Seventeen Forever
by D.D. Danger
Summary: 14 year old Kaileigh's life keeps taking turns for the worst, until she discovers Endless, a world where life's problems and reality itself vanish. However Endless might be holding the secrets to solving a decade old mystery...
1. New Home Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

1

new home forever

"Sweetie, you'll like your new school, I promise." Grandma gave me her usual smile. I admit, it was hard not to believe her even though we'd never met before I had to move in with her. She stopped her car in front of the school, Eleanor Roosevelt Middle.

"Alright, class. We have a new student joining us today. Kaileigh, come on in!"

The teacher was a middle-aged man, but he seemed to be happy to be teaching. I wrote my name on the board: K-A-I-L-E-I... at that point a few people began giggling. I finished writing it and the teacher looked at me.

"Tell us a little about yourself. Like how you came to Dubuque from California," he smiled.

"I'm living with my grandma here for a while. I like surfing and cartoons." I smiled as sincerely as I could fake.

"Well, surfing might be hard here in Iowa. But, I think you'll find some things in common with a few kids here." He gestured me to an open seat near the back.

"Hey. Why would you trade Cali for Iowa? I hear it's great there." A smallish boy with fair skin sat next to me.

"It wasn't exactly my choice. I don't really want to talk." It was harsh but true, I really just wanted to hide the whole day.

"I'm James!" Clearly he did not get the memo.

The end of the school day came incredibly slowly. I was also to ride the bus home. To my ire, James sat beside me as the bus left the school.

"You know, I like sports too! I play football, and baseball, and basketball-" I stopped him.

"Please, don't. I just want to go home." After a few minutes the bus made an unexpected stop: Stephen Hempstead High.

"What's this?" I asked James.

"Oh, right, you're new. The district had to cut costs, so the highschoolers share buses with us." _Great_, I thought to myself. I really didn't watch the highschoolers board the bus, but it turned out that one of them was ready to talk to me.

"Hey, James! I like the new girlfriend!" A girl with blonde hair and pink highlights was leaning over our seat.

"Oh, she's not my girlfriend. She's a new kid!" James was far too excited about everything.

"What's your name, new kid?" She seemed to be staring into my soul

"Kaileigh," I answered quietly.

"Emily!" Suddenly another high school girl was hovering. "What are you talking to these babies for!" The new girl crossed her arms. Emily's face suddenly flushed red.

"Just checking on James and his new girlfriend!" She said it with such vigor that the whole bus heard, and began making mocking sounds at us. Emily laughed a sinister laugh as she sank behind us. I buried myself in the seat, trying to hide until I got home.

My things were mostly still in boxes, but at some point, Grandma had set my seashell collection out on the kitchen table. My mom had strung a few of the shells into a necklace when I was younger. I grabbed it and put it on. Then I noticed another shell, one that I had painted for some reason. It was blue and yellow, my favorite colors. I decided to sit down for a bit, and add some other shells onto the necklace chain. Last but not least, I had carefully added a hole to the painted one and added it to the necklace. Suddenly, the shells began glowing and I was enveloped by a yellow light. I screamed in terror as reality itself seemed to bend. When I opened my eyes, I was staring up at the sky, but it had changed, it was now pink, with pink clouds. The sun was smiling back at me, and I grew immediately uneasy. I didn't want to look at where I was lying, but I couldn't stand the sun's gaze anymore. I looked up and screamed.

"Hello!" An odd assortment of monsters were standing in front of me. The world around me was full of terrifying and bizarre things.

"Hi, I'm Colin!" A gray creature approached me. He had a terrifying face like a bad clay project, and a hunched back. He held out a tiny arm, which I didn't take out of fear.

"I'M DOCTOR CHAMPION! WHO ARE YOU?" A green man with red eyes came running from the group.

"K-Kaileigh? From Iowa?" I stuttered.

"I'M FROM KENTUCKY!" He screamed back. He then produced a carton of milk from seemingly nowhere and handed it to me.

"Sorry about him, I'm Galaxander. Nice to meet you." Galaxander seemed to be made of night sky, the stars on his body shifting as he walked. He had bright white eyes and nearly as bright blonde hair. I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet, and I realized that I was wearing different clothes. I looked down at my outfit- surfer's gear, dark blue with a few yellow accents… very "me" actually.

"That's your Endless outfit!" Galaxander must have caught me staring.

"Endless outfit?" I asked.

"Yes, the outfit you wear in Endless, silly."

"So this place is called… Endless?" I looked around at the island. Even just close to me, I could see what appeared to be a doughnut tree, a stack of tires, and off in the distance, a forest of trees that almost looked like skin. Where am I?

"Let me introduce my friends to you!" He walked me over to a small light green gremlin creature.

"This is Borbo!"

"Yup, I'm Borbo, I like sneakin' and creepin'!" Even his voice was creepy.

"Here's Pretty Please, Tater Tot, and Beth." He pointed at three small creatures, one yellow and rabbit like, another green with some fish like qualities, and the last was a blue slime creature with four eyes. They all waved back.

"That's Mack and Beefhouse!" The two orange men started flexing at me. They almost looked like toys.

"And finally, Big Deal." I hadn't noticed the bat like creature in the back of the group, alongside a tall green-skinned woman, sitting in a wheelchair.

"Wait, who's in the wheelchair?" I ask Galaxander.

"Oh, that's the Buttwitch." He said in an angry voice. "She tried to destroy the island, like, five times."

"Why is she here then?"

"Because I love her!" The bat creature, Big Deal, wheeled her over to me. "She hasn't moved in a very long time, though. I think she's hibernating."

"How do you know she's not just dead?" I asked.

"Oh, things blow up when they die here." Big Deal said.

"That makes no sense." I said.

"It doesn't have to make sense on Endless!" He replied back. Another creature walked up to me, an end table with a strange yellow balloon face.

"I'm Tasty Troy. Wanna play some foursquare?"

"Uh, Sure" I said.

I was not quite prepared for what followed. The foursquare arena was the size of a basketball court, and three of the islanders I met, Doctor Champion, Tasty Troy, and Beefhouse were warming up intensely.

"I think the rules of foursquare might be different here." I said.

"You'll do great," Beefhouse said In a surprisingly soft voice. They even had bleachers, lined with residents, some I hadn't even met, one in particular, an all white being made of geometric shapes, was sitting in a throne. Across from the bleachers was a sign that read "Champions" and had four banners flowing from it. I recognized two of the champions as Doctor Champion and Beefhouse, but not the other two. First was a girl with a white jumpsuit and pink hair, and second, another girl wearing some kind of space helmet, with the number eleven on her chest.

"Who are those people?" I inquired.

"That's Candi and Seventeen!" Beefhouse yelled back. "We never changed Seventeen's banner. She used to be called Eleven!" Suddenly, a small duck-like creature took to the referee's chair and blew a whistle. I took my corner. Doctor Champion was starting with the ball.

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN, TASTY TROY!" He jumped alarmingly high in the air and spiked the ball, which Tasty Troy somehow caught in his drawer. Tasty Troy turned to me, revealing his drawer was now a canon, and the ball shot out of it. The ball hit me in the gut and I went flying. I landed in something soft, which I realized was a large ice cream sandwich (which I was now covered in). What _was_ this place?

"Kaileigh is out!" I heard from the arena. I decided now was the time to go home. I pulled out my necklace, and held it up, hoping I would go home, and sure enough, I was once again enveloped in yellow, and had returned to my kitchen, unscathed from the events in Endless.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in, Kaileigh. How was your first day of school?" Grandma asked.

"Eventful," I replied. I ran to my room and hid the necklace in my drawer. All I wanted was to forget this day.

To Be Continued In: Outcast Forever


	2. Outcast Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

2

Outcast Forever

Several weeks passed after my trip to Endless. On the home front, everyone at school thought I was dating James, and he wasn't helping by not leaving me alone. With my face buried in my math textbook, I awaited the bell to ring for lunch. Maybe things would be better if I had a friend here in Dubuque? I really hoped I could find someone more down to earth than James, however. The bell finally rang and I went to the water fountain, but when I turned it on, it sprayed right at me- right at my pants, actually. Really? Was the world out to get me?

"Heh, pee-pants!" A boy walked past me, giggling. I ran to my locker. When I opened it, I nearly screamed. The necklace with the shells was there, but I never brought it to school! I ran straight into the cafeteria. Suddenly, everyone started laughing at me. Right… the pants. I sat myself at a corner table as quickly as possible. James sat down.

"You know, if you need a friend, I'm here," he said. I opened my lunch and nearly screamed again: the necklace was there.

"I need to go to the bathroom, actually..." I said. I ran out of the cafeteria and found a thankfully empty girls' room. I held the key up, but nothing happened.

"Uh. Take me to Endless?" Suddenly the yellow field enveloped me and I arrived at the landing spot, in my thankfully dry Endless outfit.

"KAILEIGH! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE FOREVER!" Doctor Champion rolled up and handed me more milk.

"Can I at least have a cup?" To my disdain he handed me a shoe instead, and poured the milk into it. I had nothing to lose, so I drank. Wait, why was the milk cold? How was the milk cold?

"Ah, Doctor Champion!" A guitar riff played and an incredibly handsome man appeared, however after a second, I noticed he was half dog. Doctor Champion jumped on his back.

"Ah, and who are you, new girl?" He asked.

"Kaileigh." I said.

"I'm Endless' best musician, Guy Pleasant, and you've met my boyfriend, Doctor Champion."

"WOOF!" screamed Doctor Champion.

"I love you, too." Says Guy. "Would you like to ride on my fluffy dog back, Kaileigh?"

"Can you take me somewhere I can chill for a bit?" I ask.

"I know just the guys!" I hopped on Guy, behind Doctor Champion. As we walked, I took in a few details about Endless- like that the spire off the shore was actually a terrifying waterslide. Suddenly, the trees gave way to an opening into the island. Then I realized what I was looking at- this section of the island was torched.

"What happened here?" I asked.

"That's the damage from the Buttwitch's final gambit," Guy replied.

"Many years ago, the Buttwitch gained an unimaginable power, and she breathed fire across Endless, but she was stopped by the great hero, Seventeen."

"I keep hearing that name, Seventeen. Where is she?" I ask.

"I don't remember. I remember seeing her one time after the Buttwitch was put into hibernation, but that's it." Guy said.

"So, she's a kid, right? Not one of you… islanders?"

"Yes. From Iowa, if I recall."

I thought about how weird that was to myself- what if I knew this girl?

"Do… other kids come here?"

"I can only remember Seventeen and Candi," Guy says. "Now, welcome to the home of Mack and Beefhouse!" Guy stopped in front of an admittedly cute cottage.

"Guy Pleasant, Doctor Champion! And you brought Kaileigh!" Beefhouse exited his home, wearing a 'kiss the cook' apron. Mack then walked out, giving Beefhouse a peck on the cheek.

"So what are we doing here?" I ask.

"Yoga!" Mack says.

"I'm not sure if I'm into yoga," I reply.

"Nonsense! Yoga is good for you, and anyone can do it!" I decided to give in to him.

After half an hour, the yoga routine ended, and admittedly, I felt calmer.

"I don't want to go back to school," I accidentally said out loud.

"School is where you learn everything!" Guy said.

"Who told you that?" I almost laughed.

"Doctor Champion. Where did you say you heard that?" Guy asked.

"A FRIEND! BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO!" Doctor Champion replied.

"All that aside, you should get back to your life, Kaileigh." Mack said. I took out the necklace.

"Okay. Bye, I guess." I held the key up, and returned to the bathroom. "Guess I'll go back to lunch." I said to myself. When I got there, however, it was empty. What?

"Kaileigh! There you are!" My art teacher came up behind me.

"Where's everyone at? It's lunchtime, right?" I asked.

"Kaileigh, it's not lunch. We've been looking for you for two hours!"

"Two hours!?" I screamed. "I think I need to go to the nurse," I said.

I got out of trouble by using the thing that happened with my pants as an excuse, and the end of the day arrived. I was now on the bus, with James, of course, and the highschoolers were getting on. Emily arrived right on schedule.

"Hey, I heard you peed yourself and hid in the bathroom for two hours today!" She mocked. Who told her that already? She receded, laughing with the rest of the bus. It was official; I'd never have friends, and it came at the worst time in my life. I had to show someone Endless. I think I time traveled today. As the bus jerked away from the school, I realized that I did technically have someone I could show Endless. I just really wasn't certain about it.

"James, can I show you something after school tomorrow?" I gritted my teeth.

"Yes!" I'm so glad you finally asked! Does this mean we are friends!?" He was still too excited.

"How about... acquaintances?" I said.

"Okay!" He replied.

To Be Continued In: James Forever


	3. James Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

3

James Forever

The bell rang to release us all from the stress that is school. Was I really about to show James Endless? It felt like he had been staring at me during the entire day. Could you actually _bring_ someone to Endless? I guess I never thought that through. It's not like he'd die or something, I supposed. First, of course, was the daily Emily visit.

"Hey, Kaileigh! I like your necklace!" She said as she took her seat.

"Oh… really?" I was in shock.

"Yeah! So much I could take it!" She ripped the seashells off of my neck and began to throw them around. I screamed as they played hot potato with my mother's gift, and my Endless key. Tears began running down my face, and the Endless key began to glow slightly.

"Okay, that's enough." Emily grabbed the key and threw it back in my lap. "It's not actually that cool, or whatever." The rest of the ride was oddly quiet, and soon enough, James was at my house. What was I doing this for again?

"Okay, James, bear with me on this." I took the necklace in one hand and James' hand in the other.

"Oh, uh, I don't..." I stopped him.

"Shut up, James. Take us to Endless!" The yellow light enveloped us both, and soon, I was on the landing platform... but without James. Did I kill him!? As I pondered my alibi, a red streak began falling from the sky. It hit several trees on the mountain, which lit up in succession, triggering a set of lights on the hill which read 'TILT'. Then, the streak slammed into the landing pad, revealing James.

"What!? Hello!?" He was freaking out, clearly.

"Hey, chill." I knelt down next to him. "This is Endless."

"What am I wearing?" He asked.

"Your Endless outfit!" it appeared to be a sports jumpsuit of some sort, except…

"Why am I wearing a skirt!?" He screamed. I just raised my hands up, I only had about two days more experience with this place.

"Hello, Little J! Kaileigh!" Someone I didn't recognize was coming. A small yellow flying squid.

"Little J?" James asked.

"Yeah, it says so on the back of your shirt!"

"Hey, we haven't met. Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm Flaps! And I make weapons!" The squid flutters through the air.

"Ooh! Make me a weapon!" James says.

"I don't know, most people can't handle my weapons..." Flaps said nervously.

"Do it!"

Flaps then vomited up a sword at high speed, which disintegrated when James touched it.

"Oh, so it's like a Thor's hammer sort of thing," I observed. "So which Islander can use your weapons? Is it Doctor Champion?"

"No, silly- my creator, Seventeen!" Flaps says. Ugh, Seventeen again.

"Wait, Seventeen... _made_ you?" I ask.

"Yeah, she buried me in the ground and I came to life!"

"I'm sorry, what?" James said. Seventeen could create life here!? Who was this girl, and where was she?

"Well, I have to try, right?" I asked no one in particular. "Hit me, Flaps!" The creature spat another sword. I caught it.

"Wait, I caught it?" I looked at the sword, gold blade with a white, green, and pink hilt. "I'm the chosen one! Seventeen's color scheme is tacky, though."

"I like it. Pink and green match well," James said.

"YOU HAVE SEVENTEEN'S SWORD!" Doctor Champion was bringing more islanders over.

"What are these things?" James asked.

"Just roll with it. No rules on Endless," I said.

"MILK, MILADIES?" Doctor Champion said. I nodded.

"Can I have a cup? And by the way, I'm a dude," James said. Doctor Champion pulled out two shoes and gave them to us, full of milk.

"Just drink the shoe milk, James. It's not bad, actually." I took a big swig and threw my shoe down as if it were a glass in a cowboy movie.

"Who's that guy?" James was pointing at a creature with several human arms and legs, and two faces, one much more human than the other.

"I actually don't know." I walked over to him.

"I'm Kaileigh!" I stuck out a hand and the creature ate it.

"Schmaaron!" He mumbled. James pulled my hand out.

"Don't try to eat her, weirdo!" he said. Schmaaron started screaming and crying.

"Hey! What happened?" Guy Pleasant ran over and hugged Schmaaron. "Be nice to him! It'll take me at least twenty minutes to calm him down now." Guy walked away with Schmaaron.

"He does not seem like the dad type," I said.

"You never can tell, I suppose," James mused.

"Hey, I have an idea. You can settle something for me! We need to find Tasty Troy!" I dragged James off. Soon after running aimlessly for a bit, we came across Beth.

"Beth, do you know where Tasty Troy is?" I asked.

"I think he's on the other side of the scab garden," Beth answered.

"The what?" James asked as I dragged him towards the forest of fleshy plants.

"I don't like this place, Kaileigh!" Then suddenly, he stopped. "What's that!?" He pointed at a small blue penguin who appeared to be tending to the… flesh garden.

"Oh, hello! I'm Manguin!" The creature turned around to reveal he had his hair styled like Guy Fieri.

"Is this your garden, Manguin?" I asked.

"No, it's Seventeen's, but she stopped coming to Endless a long time ago. So I take care of it now. She taught me how to let loose a long time ago."

"You call gardening letting loose?" James asks.

"Everything in moderation, silly. That's one of my Manguinations!" Manguin says. Soon, we began moving again, but I suddenly felt really bitter for some reason. Thankfully, it wasn't long before we found Tasty Troy.

"Hey, Tasty Troy!" I yelled as we ran over.

"Hi, Kaileigh. You're just in time. I made meatballs, Tasty Troy style." His drawer opened to reveal rows of meatballs in the shape of his face.

"Did you make these yourself?" James asked.

"You could say that, yes." Tasty Troy said.

"Troy, do you want to play some Foursquare?" I asked. Suddenly, he got excited.

"No one has ever asked me to play Foursquare!" He took us to the arena.

"Kaileigh, what is this!?" James yelled.

"Foursquare! You're going to make me feel better about something that happened the first time I was here!" This time, however, I was going to have an advantage. "Flaps!" The squid came from the direction of the landing spot.

"Hit me, something blunt!" The creature spat an object at high speed and I caught it, a bat. The crowd gasped. The bat had little wings on it- man, Seventeen was tacky. Tasty Troy and Doctor Champion took the remaining two corners, Tasty Troy started with the ball. He pointed his cannon at me and shot, so I swung the bat and somehow hit the ball in Doctor Champion's direction. It flew with a pink trail behind it. After the first bounce, Doctor Champion spiked the ball at James, and it hit him, clear out of the arena.

"James is out!" The duck creature announced. That was exactly what I needed to feel better. Suddenly I heard clanking, and the crowd gasping again. The geometric creature, standing like a suit of badly designed armor, was in front of me.

"And who are you?" I ask.

"The Queen of Endless," it replied in a semi robotic female voice.

"How can Endless have a queen if there's no rules?" I ask.

"I made that rule. I watch over Endless. And this?" She grabs the bat. "-Is not yours." She breaks it in half. "Go find your friend." She walks away. I decide this awkward silence was the time to go see where James landed.

"Are you really eating that ice cream?" I ask as I run up to him, buried in a pile of ice cream.

"It's the only way out, Kaileigh," James said with his mouth full.

"There's another way out, dork, and I think it's time we use it."

I took his hand and held up the key, taking us home.

To Be Continued in: Candi Forever


	4. Candi Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

4

Candi Forever

"Oh, Kaileigh! Check it out! I think I found my Endless key!" James had been trying this for about a week now- it was actually sort of entertaining. "Look, I made this sculpture of Pretty Please out of clay!" Actually, he was pretty good with clay, maybe he could even make Collin hot. ...No, that was too much. Even for James. We got on the bus, and it was time for Emily to join us once more, but surprisingly enough, she didn't talk to us. Not a bad twist on my day, actually.

"Alright, here I go! Take me to Endless!" To his surprise (but not mine), James' seventh attempt at a key was a bust. So, I grabbed his hand and brought him to Endless.

"Look at it this way; Pretty Please will love it," I told him. Then, I noticed it was silent. "Where is everyone?"

"Well, there's that whistling," James stated.

"What whistling?" I listened and the sound finally registered. "James, that's a slide-whistle, take cover!" I dove as the falling object crashed into the sand.

"What is it?" James asked. I looked in the crater.

"It's... Beefhouse!?" I was in shock. Who would beat up Beefhouse? Fortunately, I got my answer when the Foursquare announcer- whose name is Tammy, I recently found out- began echoing over the island.

"Beefhouse is out!" The crowd cheered especially loud. But, if I recall correctly, Beefhouse was one of the champions. Who beat him?

"We need to go check this out, James. He'll be fine." We ran. While on the way, Tasty Troy flew over our heads as well. We took our seats in the bleachers. Doctor Champion was in one corner, in other was…

"Candi!" I yelled. She looked different from her banner, but I realized that Seventeen's banner was never updated, either. She had the body of a young adult now, and I couldn't see her face, as she wore a mask that matched her bubblegum pink hair.

"How can she be good at this? She's only human, like us!" James said.

"Hi, Kaileigh!" Tater Tot was behind us. "You got here just in time!"

"Who do you think will win?" I asked.

"No one! These two are both undefeated. They agree to a draw every time, but it's amazing to watch," she said, eyes twinkling. Tammy blew the whistle.

"Okay, you two, I want to see a fair game! Doctor Champion starts with the ball!" Tammy says.

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN THIS TIME, CANDI!" Doctor Champion rips the ball he was handed in half.

"No, you," Candi said in a teasing voice. Tammy hands Doctor Champion a new ball and he spikes it. Candi's hair suddenly forms into a ping pong racket and deflects the ball back.

"WHAT!?" Me and James scream. The ball only picked up speed with each deflection, Candi was now sitting in a chair of her own hair, while it functioned as two paddles.

"She's smug. I like her!" I say to James.

"I might be in love!" James said.

"Honestly, me too!" I said back. The match went on until Candi decided to combine her paddles, sending the ball flying faster than my eyes could follow. When I looked up, a crater stood in front of Doctor Champion. The crowd fell silent.

"Doctor Champion is out!" Tammy said, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Candi turned her hair into arms and flexed them, then they produced the words "thank you" from the muscles. Before she broke into dance.

"What is this dorky dance?" I laughed.

"It's the default dance!" James answered.

"Alright, let's go meet her," I said as the crowd started dying down.

"You think she'll let us?" James said.

"James, she's only the second person on Endless ever, and we're the third and fourth. Plus, you can ask about her key," I said.

"I'm in," he says as we walk onto the court.

"Candi!" I yell, and she turns to me. Suddenly she begins running, using her hair as legs.

"Holy crap, she's fast!" James said as we took off. Candi was frequently looking back as we ran.

"She's trying to lose us so she can warp out!" I yell.

"We're heading to the landing spot, can you warp there while you are here? We could do a pincer maneuver!" That was his most clever idea, ever.

"Take me to Endless!" When I shouted the yellow aura consumed me, and I was at the landing zone. I hid behind some rubble as Candi emerged alone, having lost James.

"Good, lost those kids," she muttered. She held her arm up, which had a charm bracelet on it, as well as a rather large cut.

"Psyche!" I yelled as I jumped out and grabbed her, right as a white aura consumed us both. I looked in front of me. I was now in someone's room, holding their bare leg. I looked up slowly in fear, and the girl stared back down at me.

"EMILY!" I screamed. She held up her bloodied arm with the bracelet.

"May we be friends forever on Endless," she said, with murder in her voice. The white aura consumed us and we returned to Endless. I was once again looking at Candi's outfit, her mask now missing.

"EMILY!" James came up behind us.

"Yes, Emily!" Candi confirmed angrily. "I should've known you'd find me here. I noticed your Endless key glowing on that necklace the other day." She sat down, blood still streaming from her cut.

"Are you okay?" James asked.

"Yeah, you get a lot of adrenaline when you get hurt on Endless, which is why I come here to… uh, never mind," she mutters in a somber tone.

"I hope this isn't the wrong time to ask, but... do you know Seventeen?" I asked.

"No, never met the bitch. Supposedly, myself, Shane, and Tristan came here for the first time not long after the last time she was seen, and that was five years ago," she said.

"Why is your name Candi?" James asked. To that, she ripped a piece of her hair off.

"It's cotton candy," she answered. She now had her head in her hands.

"Wait. Guy Pleasant told me only you and Seventeen ever came here from Earth. Who are Shane and Tristan?"

"My friends. First it was Tristan, when he was fifteen. His Endless key stopped working one day. Within a month, he forgot Endless existed, and the islanders forgot him. The same happened with Shane a few months ago. It's like he was erased from existence, at least in Endless, and in my life, I suppose. Soon, it'll be me. This is the first time my key has worked since before she even showed up." Was Emily crying?

"So when you grow up, you disappear from Endless!?" I realized. "How does everyone remember Seventeen then?" I asked.

"Dunno. Maybe she can still come here and just doesn't, she'd be what? 22 now? Can I leave in peace, please?" she asked.

"Will you come back?" James asked.

"Well, yeah. I blow off steam here," Emily said. "Actually, I have a question. Why didn't you use your Endless powers to chase me?"

"Endless… powers?" I asked.

"Oh my god, you guys are newbies. You have a power, too, like my hair." Emily raised her arm and the key returned her home.

"Well, that was life changing," James said.

"Yeah, I said she was hot," I replied.

"A hot mess, maybe," James said.

"Do you want to work on your Endless power?" I ask.

"No. Not today. This was enough Endless for one day." I took his hand and brought us back to Dubuque. He exited my home quietly. How many people went to Endless and then forgot it? Was there even a point to going there, then? And who is this Seventeen bitch? Why is she special?

To Be Continued in: Endless Forever


	5. Endless Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

5

Endless Forever

"So when did you find this juice bar?" James asked, leaning back on his bar stool.

"I was here alone a few days ago. Doctor Champion introduced me to Carbaby, and we went on a road trip."

"Wait, can you drive?" James asked.

"No, I'm fourteen. Doctor Champion drove."

"Is that safe?" He asked.

"I don't know, probably," I said back. Suddenly, someone sat next to us: a creature that looked like a fusion of a barbie doll and a fish, unfortunately enough, with the fish's head.

"Haven't seen you around these parts before," I said.

"I'm Mermaid Johnson," she smiled as she pulled a drink from one of the vines. "Just came from getting a mani-pedi." She showed us her feet and one human arm.

"You're gorgeous, Mermaid Johnson!" James exclaimed.

"Oh, I know," she replied to him.

"Wait, does that mean there's a spa on Endless?" I asked excitedly.

"Actually, Doctor Champion does my nails," she answered.

"Hey, Mermaid Johnson." Rance, a humanoid shark, who runs the juice bar came over.

"Hey, babies!" a voice suddenly yelled from the distance.

"Was that Emily?" James said. We looked but couldn't see her anywhere.

"Up here, idiots!" We looked up and Emily was gliding down, her hair functioning as a paraglider.

"She can fly?" I inquired.

"Glide, anyway," James said back.

"How can you fly!?" I yelled. She suddenly began dropping, and created a landing pillow from her hair.

"Endless power. I told you the other day," she said, walking over to Rance. "Bubble tea," she requested. He slid the drink over to her.

"They have bubble tea here!? Was no one really going to tell me?" As I complained, Rance handed me a bubble tea as well.

"Oh, also, I can't fly. Only glide," Emily said.

"Why not? Just make helicopter blades," James suggested.

"I tried. If I try to use my hair at that speed, it starts shooting off. All I managed to do is cover the beach, Shane, and Tristan in cotton candy," she said.

"Weird. Do you guys ever wonder how Endless works?" James said.

"It's pure chaos, what is there to know?" I said.

"I mean, like… what if Endless is just all our imagination?!" James said, yelling in excitement.

"It was here before any of us. If Seventeen was here when she was eleven, you two were probably infants when she first came here," Emily says.

"We could go looking for stuff about the island!" James says.

"No, no… we're not. Shane made us go searching for logic in Endless once and we got eaten and trapped in a dark room for hours." Emily seemed genuinely traumatized.

"Aww, come on!" James said.

"No. I'm going to play foursquare. You two can get eaten." Emily's hair turned into a spring and she bounced away. Suddenly, James smiled at me.

"Fine. Where are we going?" I said, defeated.

"To the Buttwitch, of course!" He said.

"That sounds super, super dumb," I say. "She tried to destroy the island, a bunch of times."

"Rance! Where does the Buttwitch live?" James asked. Rance pointed in the direction of some trees and James ran off. Dammit, James. I followed him into the woods to a large vacuum cleaner (for whatever reason, that existed).

"How do we get in?" he asked. "I bet it will suck." He looked at me for a reaction, but I refused to laugh. He then climbed into the vacuum, and again, I followed.

"Hey!" Big Deal's voice projected when we entered the vacuum bag. "Doesn't anyone knock anymore?"

"Big Deal! Can you tell us about the Buttwitch?" James said.

"You want to hear about ma'am!" His eyes beamed as he grabbed a chair. "She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met!" I looked at the green woman, dormant in her chair. I guess I could see it. "We met the day Seventeen cut her tail off and I helped her with her injuries." Big Deal was actually kind of sweet, it turned out.

"Savage, Seventeen," James said, and I jabbed him with my elbow.

"Dude, shut up, that's like, his wife or something!" I whispered.

"Why did she want to destroy Endless?" James asked.

"She thinks it's too chaotic and childish," Big Deal explains.

"I wish I could just ask her," James says.

"If you had a way to wake her up, I'd let you, but I think it's impossible. I've tried for years. I even have tried giving her these." Big Deal opens a cabinet full of large green worms.

"What are those!?" I ask in mild disgust.

"They come from people, like you, when you get angry!" Big Deal says. "Ma'am gains power from them. So I collect them when I see them," Big Deal explains.

"Why bother still doing that, if it doesn't work?" James asks.

"Well, I'm also hiding them from the queen. When she eats them, she gets bigger and scarier." He shivers a bit.

"One last thing, Big Deal. Why is she dormant like this?" I ask.

"Something happened with Seventeen and her friend during her final attack on Endless. Ma'am was about to win, and I didn't see what happened, but suddenly she just stopped, and Seventeen and her friend were just standing there."

"Wait, what friend?" I asked.

"An Endless hero. I only ever saw them that one time."

"Another person?! Like from the outside!?" I was practically on top of him now.

"I think so, they certainly weren't anyone I knew," Big Deal said. With that, James and I left the Buttwitch's home.

"Dude, do you realize what he just said!?" I asked James as we walked.

"Yeah, Seventeen had a friend going to Endless with her," James said.

"No, idiot! Big Deal remembers them! That means, if he's right, there's a fourth person out there with a working Endless key!" I was now shaking him.

"Aw, man! Why can't I even make one when Seventeen and her friend can still come here as adults?" James pouted.

We returned to the juice bar and found Emily there, slightly bruised.

"Did you guys find anything out about Endless?" She said, drinking bubble tea.

"Sorta. We went to the Buttwitch's house," James said.

"Why would you go to the Buttwitch's house? I've been coming here for five years, and even I was smart enough to leave her alone," Emily said.

"Emily, this is actually important. Big Deal said another Endless hero was with Seventeen and he clearly remembered it, and said the two of them made the Buttwitch dormant."

"So there's another key out there," Emily said.

"Also, do you know anything about creepy worms that come out of people when they are angry?" James asked.

"Oh, yuck… those. Yeah, I coughed a few up arguing with Tristan once or twice… er- a few times," Emily said.

"Apparently, the Buttwitch eats them for power," I said.

"Gross! That's where those go?"

"Well, Big Deal has most of them. I guess she can't eat anymore," James said.

"Why does everything on this stupid island come back to Seventeen? I'm so tired of hearing about her everywhere we go!" I stamped my foot down. "Why do you care so much about her, James?" I say.

"I'm interested in the mysteries of the island, Kaileigh! Is that wrong?" He snapped back.

"I'm going for a walk." I began walking into the woods, to a part of Endless I'd never seen.

To Be Continued in: Secrets Forever


	6. Secrets Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

6

Secrets Forever

I don't even know what I'm running from. I just kept running, past a guitar tree, into the forest, past a lake of what looked like ranch sauce. Eventually, I stopped at an opening. I looked down to catch my breath, and when I looked back up, a building had appeared- a grocery store.

"Kaileigh, you idiot! Stop running!" Suddenly, Emily bounced into the opening on her hair.

"Oh, wow. This has not been a good day for Endless memories," Emily said, walking up to the store.

"What do you mean, Emily?"

"Just don't go in there. Please just listen to me," she said.

"Why would I listen to you, bully?" James came speeding out of the woods and ran into the store.

"Crap," Emily said as she began following him. "I'm not dealing with this without you, Kaileigh. Let's rip it off like a band-aid." What was she so afraid of? We entered, and the store was stocked with snacks.

"Kaileigh, look at this, this bag of chips has your face on it!" James says, waving the bag. He opens it, and some mist exits the top. Suddenly, we are enveloped by the haze and the our surroundings changed. Where were we now?

"Happy birthday, Kaileigh!" What? Where did that come from? I turned and realized I was in my childhood home. I turned again, and Emily and James were standing among my childhood friends. Wait. This couldn't be…. Suddenly, I heard someone coming down the stairs, and I knew it would be me. Younger Kaileigh came into view, and she tripped and fell down the stairs as if in a cartoon, landing on her face. The kids in the memory began laughing, and the room faded, returning to the store.

"Ouch, Kaileigh," Emily said.

"I broke my nose," I replied.

"Was that a memory?" James asked.

"Yes, a rather traumatizing one," I answered.

"Gotta keep this train rolling," Emily said, opening a bottle of pop with James' face on it. We were once again consumed and appeared in front of the middle school. A slightly younger James was standing in front of the school bus as the door closed behind him.

"This is the first day of sixth grade, isn't it?" Current James muttered.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Watch the bus," he says. Suddenly, the driver started the bus and it began moving, and I realized James' backpack was caught in the door. Young James screamed as he was dragged a few feet, before the driver opened the door. We returned to Endless.

"Yeah, that would've scared me," I told him. "At least no one laughed at you."

"Well, I was known for that girly scream for a while. But it passed, I guess." The bottle in Emily's hand vanished.

"Wow, that was way faster than when I did this," Emily said.

"Let's do you, now, Emily!" James said.

"I've already done this," Emily said.

"Found you!" James returned with a can, which he opened. We arrived at the middle school again. A younger Emily was talking to a lanky boy with brown hair.

"What do you mean, you don't remember Endless?!" Young Emily exclaimed in horror.

"I'm too old for all that imaginary stuff, Emily," the boy replied.

"Look, Shane! It's the bracelet! We made these together, and they took us to Endless!" she pleaded.

"We were kids, Emily. You and I don't have much in common anymore." Shane walked away.

"You have to remember!" Young Emily was sobbing as she fell to her knees, and we were returned to Endless.

"That was brutal," I said. I looked back and noticed Emily had her mask on.

"We're done with this!" Emily went for the door and it didn't open. "What!?" She began unleashing attacks on the door, and it didn't budge. Eventually she sat down. "Dammit."

"We can't leave until we look at more memories," she said. I grabbed another James product, and opened it. We were taken to a house, presumably James'.

"Stop crying!" A male voice yelled. I turned and saw James being pinned down by an older man. James was sobbing on the floor loudly. "Boys don't cry!" the voice yelled, and James only started crying louder and the memory faded. I had a sour taste in my mouth. I looked back and saw James with his head in his knees on the floor. Emily was doing the same. I could only open one of my own now, and I had a feeling of what it was going to contain. I opened a jar of nuts, and as soon as I heard the sirens, I closed my eyes out of fear.

"Kaileigh, is that the house from your first memory?" Emily came up from behind me. I opened my eyes and was looking down at the street. I raised my head and took in the scenery as I remembered it- firetrucks, the yelling, myself from one month before, crying in the ambulance, and finally I was looking ahead, watching the last few seconds of my childhood home standing before it collapsed from the fire.

"Yes," I whispered. James came up behind us.

"I see you. Where are your parents?" he asked. I couldn't speak. I was only able to point at the fire. We returned to Endless, and I fell to the ground.

"That's why you're living with your grandma in Dubuque, isn't it…?" James says. I nod.

"I'm sorry," Emily says. "I'm sorry I've been so mean to you!" She was crying. "When I did this with Tristan and Shane, the memories were mostly embarrassing!" She was pacing. "What are you doing this to us for, Endless?!" She was screaming now. Suddenly a can fell in front of me. It had Emily's face on it. Both James and Emily noticed.

"Where did that come from?" James asked, looking around.

"Before we open this one," I start, "none of this leaves Endless." The others nod. "James, I'm sorry I've been mean to you since I got to Dubuque." I'm not sure why I said it, but it just came out.

"I can understand with the circumstances. Also, I've never really had a friend," he admitted.

"Hey, Kaileigh. Am I on the can?" Emily asks. I nod.

"I know what this is going to be. It's going to be the day I met Nira."

"Who's Nira?" I asked.

"She's the one that made me tell the whole bus you were dating James," Emily said. "After losing Shane, she offered to be my friend. She told me she wanted to make me cooler, and I went along with it. She made me change my whole wardrobe and a bunch of other stuff. I don't even know if I'm the same person anymore," Emily said. The can in my hand suddenly vanished. A new one fell in its place. I opened it. A much younger Emily was on Endless near the landing point. She had two boys with her.

"I'm so glad we found this place together!" She said and the boys hugged her. Then the three of them held their hands up, each wearing a copy of Emily's bracelet.

"May we be friends forever on Endless!" they all said before beaming home. The memory ended. I looked over at Emily. She was looking at her bracelet and crying. Another can fell. I opened it. This time, the environment was the foursquare arena- the game when we saw Emily on Endless for the first time. It started right at the point where James and I were saying we were in love with Emily.

"Aww, that's cute," Emily cooed.

"You're pretty," James said as the memory faded.

"I'm too old for you, though," Emily said bluntly. Suddenly, all the items in the store vanished, and the door opened.

"This was traumatic," I said.

"Yes, yes it was," James said. "What were we even supposed to take from this?"

"Maybe something about gaining an understanding of each other, since we're all here together?" I said. As we exited the store, I inadvertently kicked a full can.

"One more time, I guess." I picked up the can, but it seemed to be… glitching. I couldn't make out whose can it was. I opened it, and we arrived at some sort of school. A girl with orange hair was talking to 3 other teens, two girls and a boy.

"I have a date with Gwen today. We'll go to Endless tomorrow, Reggie," the boy said, and the girl holding his hand nodded.

"What about you, Esther?" the orange haired girl turned to the other girl beside her.

"Practice with Cherry Cement, sorry," Esther said. Reggie looked sad.

"Why don't you ask Conelly?" Esther said.

"She never wants to go, either, not since we defeated the Buttwitch last year," Reggie said.

"We're sorry, Reg," said the boy. The teenagers all parted ways, and Reggie was left alone by the lockers.

"They never want to hang out anymore. At least I'll always have you, Endless." She pulled out a key shaped object made of clay from her shirt.

"With this key, create a door, to take me to your righteous shores, to give us fun when there is none, and make reality undone! To the edges of infinity, Endless Island, set me free!" Her key glowed to life and the memory ended.

To Be Continued in: The Altar Forever


	7. The Altar Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

7

The Altar Forever

In the weeks since that horrifying trip to Endless, winter had faded to spring… sort of. Spring in the Midwest seemed more dismal and muddy than it was in California. This Reggie girl, who we all agreed was Seventeen, was a total ghost in the real world. A girl matching her description, Regina Abbott, went missing from a nearby town called Bethune a few years ago, but that's all we could go off of, and that's assuming Guy Pleasant was right about Seventeen living in Iowa. Regina had no social media or anything, and we couldn't find anything about the three people with her in the memory. It also didn't help that Emily was incredibly hard to reach, as she didn't, and I quote, 'want to be seen with us'. I don't even know what to call her. Friend? Enemy? Frenemy? One of these days, I'm going to call her out on it. James and I were clearly hitting a wall, and the only place we'd be able to find out more was Endless. I'd left the key sitting for a while after the incident with the cans, but I think today is the day. I grabbed my cell and called James' house (he didn't own a cell phone, which baffled me).

"Hello?" A woman's voice came over the phone.

"This is Kaileigh, I'm looking for James," I said.

"Okay! James!" There was some noise from the phone being handed off.

"Hi, Kaileigh," he said.

"Was that your mom, James?" I ask, "Your dad normally answers."

"No. That was my dad's new girlfriend. I haven't seen my mom since I was seven," James said.

"I'm sorry to hear that, James," I replied.

"It's alright. She's nice, and she's here for me, it seems. The only unfortunate thing is… well, she calls herself Candi."

"Oh no!" We both started laughing. "Anyway, wanna come over and go to Endless?"

"Actually, I'm working on something right now, but you should text Emily," James says.

"Oh… okay." I let James off of the phone call. I grabbed the shells and warped to Endless.

"Surprise!" James' voice scared me as I landed. I turned around and saw him on the landing zone.

"How'd you get here?" I asked.

"I finally have a working Endless key!" He brandished something in his hand. "I got the idea from that Reggie girl's key, so I made it out of clay, and then added a seashell to it because it reminded me of you!"

"Wow, that's kinda… something," I wasn't sure what to say about that last part.

"Sorry if it sounds weird, but you showed me this place, and you talk to me, so, it felt right."

"You're a dork, you know that?" I asked.

"I can live with that," James said back.

"Anyway, I texted Emily, but who knows if she'll show up." I muttered.

"What's the agenda today, anyway?" James asked.

"Not sure, exactly, we're going to look for more information about Seventeen."

"And here you told me you didn't care that much about her," James smiled.

"After the thing with the cans, I can't help but feel like something bad happened, James."

"If we can confirm Regina Abbott is Seventeen, we know something bad happened." James mused.

We began walking into Endless until we came upon an islander I didn't recognize, a somewhat terrifying worm creature, with legs.

"Swimple Dan! Gorbus!" James said.

"Why, hello, Little J! And you're Kaileigh, correct? I've heard great things!" I just realized there was a small pink creature riding Swimple Dan. "Are you kids here for dancing lessons?"

"Actually, could you tell us where Seventeen used to hang out?" I ask.

"Hmm, well, she liked foursquare, the obstacle courses, and the beach the most, if I recall," Swimple Dan said.

"Well, if Emily was here, we could split up, but I guess we'll head to the obstacle course," I said.

An interesting thing about the obstacle courses: they were a ghost town. You needed an Endless power to be good at them. Emily tried to teach us ours at one point, but I think she just tricked us into exercising for her own pleasure.

"Hey, Kaileigh, look at this!" James waved her over to a beam on the course.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Look at the pole," he pointed. There were letters carved into it: R, T, E, and G.

"Reggie, Esther, Gwen, and I guess T is the boy," I started.

"I suppose this is more possible evidence about the 'Reggie is Seventeen' theory. Where's the other person… Conelly?"

"I think these are scores for this obstacle course. Looks like Reggie was the best at this one," James said, counting tallies.

"Honestly, this is more than I expected to find here. You wanna hit the foursquare arena?" I asked.

"Sure. If nothing else, we'll see a game of foursquare," James said.

We took our seats. Tasty Troy, Pretty Please, and Doctor Champion were in the arena.

"Kaileigh, there is someone we could ask about Reggie," James said, pointing to the Queen of Endless in her throne.

"This is as dumb as your idea to talk to the Buttwitch," I replied.

"That worked, in case you forgot, Kaileigh. You don't need to be a jerk," James murmured.

"When have I ever been a jerk to you?"

"All the time! I feel like I'm your shadow."

"That's your own fault. Grow up, James."

"Hey! Look who's talking! Maybe you're just a spoiled brat who's used to people listening to her!" James began coughing a little.

"That's Emily, if you didn't know. I brought you here! Isn't that enough?"

"I just want to be treated as an equal, Kaileigh."

"You're crazy! I treat you fine."

"You're a liar!" James suddenly began hacking and coughed up one of those worm things we saw at the Buttwitch's house. He sat down.

"Hey!" I looked up and Emily was descending. "You know these are bad, right?" She was holding the worm.

"Yes, Emily, I know. James was trying to tell me I take advantage of him or something."

"Oh, you totally do. I figured you knew," Emily said.

"I'm not a jerk like you!" Now I began coughing.

"Where do you get off, brat?"

"You're literally a bully! You and your jerk friends!"

"I've tried to be nice to you kids since we've been here! And I've been nice IRL! What else do you want?"

"That doesn't fix it, bitch!" Suddenly my whole body convulsed as if turning inside out, releasing another worm. Our argument was suddenly interrupted by a crash. The metal creature known as the Queen of Endless was standing behind me, with my worm in tow. She took the one from Emily as well.

"No fighting in Endless," the Queen commanded, before devouring the worms and growing slightly in size. She suddenly extended her arm and grabbed the three of us, before kicking us all into the air.

"You wanted to talk to her," I said sarcastically as Emily turned her hair into a parachute to cushion our fall.

"Sorry for yelling," James said.

"Me too," I said. "Emily, to the beach."

"Why?"

"We're trying to find out more about Reggie."

"Hey, that reminds me!" Emily exclaimed. "While you guys were looking for that other girl, I found Esther."

"What?" James and I asked in unison.

"She mentioned something in that memory, 'Cherry Cement'. I thought it sounded familiar, so I looked into it, and it turns out, it used to be a band in Bethune. The singer left, so the group then picked up a female singer and became Pineapple Neck Sprain."

"So you're saying Esther is still in this band?" I asked.

"Yes, she lives in Des Moines. But they play around the Midwest." We landed as she spoke.

"Pineapple Neck Sprain is just as bad a name as Cherry Cement." James spoke under his breath.

"Hello again!" Swimple Dan said.

"Hey, Swimple Dan," I greeted, "we didn't find much out. Especially since the Queen kicked us out of the arena."

"Yeah, she's mean," said Gorbus. "She doesn't allow fighting, or allow us near a bunch of places on the island."

"Oh, yeah, she kicked Shane and I out of the Volcano once." Emily said. "Something about it being too dangerous."

"Wait. Where else can't you go?" I asked.

"The licorice swamp." Gorbus said.

"Kaileigh, you don't want to go there. It's sticky and full of vines." Emily said.

I had that exact plan.

"Great. How are we supposed to get through this now?" James asked, trying to crawl through the vines of inedible black licorice.

"Flaps!" I screamed, and the creature showed up. "Sword!" Flaps spit the sword at me, and I caught it. I began carving through the vines. We continued for what felt like twenty minutes before entering a clearing.

"I knew I'd find you here." The Queen stared at us, standing across the clearing.

"What do you have against us being here!?" I asked, pointing the sword at her.

"Endless is a wonderful place, and I'm trying to keep it safe. Put down the sword and leave."

"No!" I respond. The queen charges, and I mindlessly charge back. We both leap into the air and I swing at her, landing unharmed. I look back in time to see the Queen's arm clatter to the ground and break into its component shapes. She follows soon after.

"BADASS!" Emily screams, as she and James come over to congratulate me. The shapes began moving once more.

"She's healing, I think," James said worriedly.

"Let's hurry, then," I answered as I resumed cutting into the vines.

Not long afterwards, we entered a slightly risen clearing.

"What's that?" James pointed at a strange object.

"It looks like some kind of altar."

It wasn't unusual to see square rocks in Endless, but this one seemed off. James ran up first.

"Guys…? Oh my God!" He turned around and was holding what was unmistakably Reggie's Endless key.

To Be Continued in: Bethune Forever


	8. Bethune Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

8

Bethune Forever

Reggie's Endless key seemed to have been taped together multiple times now.

"Where do we go from here, guys?" James asked.

"I don't even know." I reply.

"Bethune." Emily says quickly.

"What?" I ask.

"Bethune. We go to Bethune."

"And do what?" James asked.

"Find Gwen, Conelly, or the boy."

"They won't remember anything, Emily." I reminded her.

"They'll remember Reggie. Maybe they can tell us something." Emily said. "I'm serious. I think someone used Endless to commit a Persona 4 style murder." She was, true to her word, deadly serious.

"What's Persona 4?" James asked. Emily was taken aback a bit.

"It's an, umm... video game. About solving murders in an alternate reality."

"Wait. Are you a nerd?" I ask, a bit excited.

"Shut up." Emily blushed. "I'll tell everyone I've seen James walking around in a skirt."

"No you won't. Besides, It's grown on me." James grabbed his skirt and fluttered it through the air.

"Fine. How are we getting to Bethune?" James asked.

"I'm sixteen, James. I have a car." Emily said. "You two just need to sneak out, I guess."

"Nah, my grandma doesn't really watch much of what I do." I say.

"Neither does my dad, as long as I'm getting A's anyway." James adds.

"Oh, okay…" Emily seemed off-put as we left Endless.

The next few days of school dragged on as finals and summer began looming on the horizon, however, spring break was still in-between. I held out some hope that there'd be no more snow by the time spring break arrived, but it seemed unlikely. Why was spring break in March, anyway? Either way, that was still about a week off. For now, Saturday rolled around, and we all met Emily by her car, as promised.

"Emily, when you said you had a car, I thought you meant... a whole car." James mused, marveling at what used to be a complete car, now worn down by years in the Midwest.

"August has character, and you just lost shotgun privilege." Emily says. I took my seat amongst Emily's used up water bottles, cluttering the foot space of the passenger seat. Emily wasn't getting in the car yet.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm untying the damn rope!" She smiled as the door opened.

"What's the rope for?" I ask.

"Closing the door," she replied, starting to retie the rope. To my disbelief, the car started on the first try, and we started the 45 minute drive to Bethune.

Awkward silence filled the car until James started singing to a song playing on the radio.

"You like Paramore, James?" Emily asked.

"I like this song, anyway," he replies as the song continues.

"You ever listen to anything before their self titled album?"

"I didn't know there was anything before it," he replies.

"Well, that won't do." Emily begins fishing in her armrest, pulling out various CDs that I didn't recognize, until she pulled out one labeled 'RIOT!'. She put the CD in the radio, and we finished the trip listening to slightly jarring music.

Bethune was about as muddy and dismal as the rest of Iowa- at least, I assume all of Iowa looks like this. Bethune had a decent mall from what I could see, at least.

"Emily, what is your plan here? Just ask people?" I felt skeptical.

"No, we're meeting someone first. I met a guy online who claims to know about Reggie."

"That sounds like a way to get kidnapped," James said flatly.

"No one is kidnapping me." Emily pulled out a large knife from her purse. She might be a little too into this. We stopped in the mall parking lot, and as Emily informed us, someone in a large coat was waiting.

"Emily?" A male voice asked.

"You told him your name?" James whispered angrily.

"Yes. Dustin?" Emily asked. He nodded back.

"Reggie disappeared when she was seventeen, without a trace. Nothing of hers was missing, except the clothes she was last seen in. All of her friends acted as if she never existed. In fact, only one has ever shown emotion about her at all, that I know of. Reggie doesn't strike me as the type to get kidnapped. She took karate so she could be like a character in an anime or something."

"How do you know so much?" I asked. He handed me a picture titled "Reggie's 16th Birthday". The photo featured those we knew as Reggie's friends, as well as a Hispanic girl, and two people who were likely her mother and brother.

"So?" He took his hood off. He was the boy in the photo. Her brother?

"Something was covered up, if you ask me." he said.

"Like what?" Emily asked.

"Not sure, but there are way to many cover ups going on in this country. Todd, Gwen, and Conelly still live in Bethune, but you won't gain anything from talking to them, more than likely."

"How can we find out more?" Emily asked.

"Doubt you can, I sure tried." Dustin says, sadly. He began leaving. "Don't try."

"That was ominous. What are we going to do now?" I asked.

"We may have to wait. He very intentionally didn't tell us Todd, Esther, or Conelly's last names or locations. Same with not telling us where he or Reggie's family is." James said.

"He's afraid." Emily said.

"Of course he's afraid. We're pretty sure his sister got killed like in some video game." I said.

"Do we go home?" James asked.

"We go through the drive-thru, then we go home." Emily said. We retreated to her car and passed through a McDonald's before turning to Dubuque.

"Time for the AUX." Emily said suddenly, producing what looked like a tape with a wire connected to it, and she put it in the radio. The other end goes into her phone, and music began playing. It was a song I actually knew, 'Face Down'. I couldn't remember the name of the band, though.

"Hey, I know this one."

"Nice! At least one of you teens has good taste," she says.

"I am actually twelve," James admits.

"What!?" Emily and I exclaimed in shock.

"I skipped a grade," he says.

"I'm a babysitter..." Emily said in shock. The ride continued in a mix of music that ranged from noise to halfway decent, with some Fall Out Boy scattered in between. Once in Dubuque, we decided to go to Endless to vent our frustrations. Everyone held their keys up, and Emily chanted her chant to activate hers. It seemed odd that everyone's key was activated with different words. We hit the landing pad together.

"Hello," A female voice full of malice said from behind us. We turned slowly, taking in a figure dressed in black and red samurai garb, and a full face mask, holding us a sword-point. "Stop looking for Reggie Abbott." she said angrily.

"Why?" Emily yelled, her hair in fists.

"She's gone." The Masked Samurai said. "You should not look for her, and you should not be in Endless."

Suddenly Emily sprung back.

"Can't stab me from there!" Emily mocked. The Samurai pointed her sword at Emily and lightning shot out, creating an explosion behind her.

"Yes, I can." Emily froze as the Samurai continued. "Leave Endless forever."

"No!" I yelled.

"Endless is evil! It takes away your sanity, and it took everything away from me!" She swung her sword near us in anger.

"Calm down, lady!" James said.

"Just listen to me, you damn kids! It's for your own good!" The Samurai started coughing.

"Endless… ruins... everything!" She chokes out the words.

"Hey!" A male voice says. Suddenly, Beefhouse tackles the Samurai. "Leave the kids alone. Endless is supposed to be about peace and love!"

"Love is fake!" Suddenly the Samurai gets up and turns her back to us, coughing severely. A worm takes to the air, but it is colored red instead of green.

"Goddammit!" The Samurai reaches into the air, and is swept up in a wave of black.

"She was human!?" I scream in realization.

"Are you guys okay?" Mack had come up behind us.

"I think I am, anyway," I say. I look back and realize Emily hasn't moved since the lightning bolt. The four of us walk up to her.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah… yeah, just… really afraid of lightning." she explains. "Just between us, I peed my Endless suit when that explosion happened."

"Gross, Emily." James says.

"Shut up." Emily says, still exasperated, and hyperventilating.

Meanwhile….

The red worm glided through the air across Endless Island, only to be interrupted be the hands of the bat creature, Big Deal. He captured the writhing red creature, taking it to his home.

"Ma'am, I found something new today!" Big Deal showed the comatose Buttwitch the worm. Big Deal proceeded to cut up the worm, breaking it down into a paste. He held up the Buttwitch's head, pouring it into her mouth. He returned her to her resting position, and returned to his cage. Suddenly, a noise snapped him awake. His home was dark, and he couldn't see anyone.

"Big Deal… what happened to the brats?" The faint, yet unmistakable voice filled the air…

To Be Continued in: The Buttwitch Forever


	9. The Buttwitch Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

9

The Buttwitch Forever

"What do you mean, you don't remember the brats?" Buttwitch said in an accusing tone, pointing a finger at her cohort.

"Sorry, ma'am! I just don't remember a purple boy, a flying girl, or one that screamed loud. Just Seventeen, and the girl with the sword!" Buttwitch tossed Big Deal away. She went over to her vanity mirror, swiping years of dust away. Big Deal came back up behind her, his collection of worms with him.

"This is what I've done since you went to sleep, ma'am!"

She snatched the worms away from him.

"Ooh! How divine! Misery, betrayal, rage!" She engorged herself. Big Deal watched as his master grew taller, and regained her second set of arms and hands. "If I've been asleep, I have some catching up to do!" She headed out her door, Big Deal in tow. She emerged from her vacuum home and peered over the treetops. She noticed the burned away part of Endless she'd left. "Why can't I remember what happened that day? I was clear-cutting the tawdry parts of my island, and I had those brats pinned down, then… blank."

"You just froze and withered away, no one really saw what happened," Big Deal said, doing his best to hover in place by her. Suddenly her train of thought was interrupted by three streaks entering the skyline.

"Oh! Kaileigh and her friends are here!" Big Deal cheers.

"Let's greet our guests, then, Big Deal!"

Meanwhile…

"Alright, Emily, what's the plan for forcing our Endless powers out today?" James asked with slight distaste in his voice, as we stepped off the landing pad.

"I'm going to beat you guys at Foursquare until one of you can hit the ball back at me."

"That's not fair, you can have four arms!" James shouts.

"Actually, there's no definite limit to how many arms I can have. It's just easier to control two extra," Emily brags.

"I'm gonna need you to prove it," James says. Emily puts her human hands by her side and starts sprouting arms from her hair like a nightmare creature.

"Hello, children!" A voice I've never heard echoed, and an insect like creature burst from the treeline. The Buttwitch… but now as tall as a tree.

"Is that the Buttwitch!?" Emily yelled. Buttwitch gave her an angry look. "You've got a lot of nerve being alive!" All of Emily's arms pointed at her menacingly.

"What are you doing with these children? You're a young lady, you should be hanging out with people your own age," Buttwitch said.

"I can hang out with whoever I want, and today the three of us are going to put you in your place! I'm armed and ready!" Emily's monstrous number of arms all formed fists. The Buttwitch grabbed Emily by the hair, ripping her hair out.

"Candy? You're too old for this saccharine nonsense." She tossed Emily's hair away.

"Don't tell me I'm too old!" Emily charged at the Buttwitch as her hair grew back. The Buttwitch produced some green lipstick and blew a kiss at Emily, knocking her to the ground.

"Come on now. All this kid's stuff isn't cool," The Buttwitch says in a mocking tone. Emily stood up and turned around, her eyes glowing green. "You shouldn't be hanging out with these weird kids. Trust me, being an adult suits you much better!"

"Y-yes, ma'am," Emily chokes out.

"Now get rid of these brats."

Emily suddenly sprouts her normal two fists of hair and leaps forward. I jumped out of the way, but when I looked back, one of her hands was pinning James, the other in a fist pointed at him.

"No!" I scream as I leap at her, with no real plan. She catches me and begins constricting me with her hair. "Come on, Emily! You're our friend!"

"Why would I be friends with a dumb kid?"

Her hair began getting tight enough that I was getting dizzy, but suddenly everything went limp and I hit the ground. When I looked up, the Queen was holding Emily.

"This is for your own good," the Queen said, as she threw Emily halfway across the island.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

"Protecting Endless Island," The Queen said as she locked eyes with the Buttwitch.

"What's this now? Some kind of golem?" Buttwitch sized up the Queen.

"I'm the Queen of Endless Island. I protect it." The Queen jumped up and punched the Buttwitch in the face.

"Hey! I'm trying to protect my island too! It just needs some correcting." The Buttwitch swiped the Queen with her tail.

"The island is fine the way it is! The only problem is you!" The Queen unleashed another flying punch, but the Buttwitch caught her fist, and lifted her up by it.

"I smell a lot of emotion on you, and it's not yours. Have you been eating the worms too?" Buttwitch smiled a toothy smile.

"Only to keep them away from you," The Queen says, before Buttwitch throws her up like a volleyball and spikes her towards the ocean, sending her building blocks everywhere. When I turned back to the Buttwitch, her tail was already coming at me. It struck me into the air and everything went black.

I woke up in a black void, but I heard a small voice behind me. I turned and saw Reggie sitting on a bench, gesturing me to sit. I joined her.

"You know, you have it inside of you to beat the Buttwitch," Reggie said.

"Do I? She destroyed me, Emily, the Queen..."

"The Buttwitch is partially right. We can't be kids forever," Reggie says.

"But you never have to grow up, if you don't want to. Just have fun. I like to draw characters, and I do claymation with Conelly... find what makes you happy, Kaileigh." I looked down at the ground, before looking back and noticing she was gone.

I opened my eyes and began to feel water lapping at my body. I looked around and realized I was sitting in the Queen's hand, which was holding me on the surface of the water. Her body was extremely damaged, and she wasn't moving. Then, I felt something tug on my leg. I looked down, and a string was tied to it. On the other end, a surfboard. I crawled into the water, or rather, blue Kool-Aid, as I quickly tasted. The surfboard had my name on it. I jumped on it and was hit with a wave of nostalgia for California, before the board took to the air. I waved around looking for balance, and surprisingly found it. Was my Endless power a flying surfboard? I thought about going forward, and the board leapt forward. I skimmed along the water and gained the confidence to stand.

Then I saw the island. The beach was burning and the islanders were running in panic. The Buttwitch was chasing Collin around. I flew in at high speed. By the time the Buttwitch noticed me, I'd jumped from the board and it hit her in the eye. I began falling to the ground, but the board caught me before I hit it. The Buttwitch began swiping with the three hands that weren't covering her eye. I began retreating and the Buttwitch went on all limbs to chase me. Her snake like tongue shot out and caught fire before she began blowing fire at me. I was just barely avoiding her, the heat at a near searing temperature, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey, bitch!" Emily shot up into the air, hair in the form of four legs, and hit the Buttwitch on the top of her head. She reeled for a second as Emily landed. That's when I got a look at her. Blood was pouring from her mouth, and she was walking with one human leg and one hair limb, dragging her other leg along.

"Wait, we can get hurt on Endless?!" I yelled to her.

"Yeah, of course," she echoed back, spitting blood onto the beach. Glad no one told me that before I jumped off the surfboard in midair, or I wouldn't have done it.

"You insolent brats!" The Buttwitch was regaining her composure and lunged with two arms, which Emily caught, digging into the sand with her good foot. I attempted to call the surfboard, but was pushed into the sand by Buttwitch's last free arm. I looked over to Emily, also being pushed back. She was forced to put weight on her bad leg and let out a scream, falling to the ground next to me. One of the arms now pinned her lower body, and the other, her hair.

"Soon, you two will be out of my way so I can fix my island."

Her face lowered to us, her tongue on fire once again. Emily turned her head to me.

"Kaileigh, for what it's worth, I had fun with you guys... and I'm sorry for being a bitch." She reached her hand out and set it on mine as the Buttwitch exhaled. I felt the heat from the flame, but was still very much alive. I opened my eyes to see a pink dome surrounding us, flames rising out of it. I looked at Emily. Her eyes were closed and she was crying.

"Open your eyes, Emily," I said.

"...What? This is some Steven Universe shit!" Emily exclaimed. The bubble exploded, blowing the Buttwitch back.

"Not again!" Emily and I were overtaken by large footsteps. Doctor Champion now stood as tall as the Buttwitch, and was throwing a flurry of punches at her.

"Emily, the shards!" I pointed at a piece close to us. "Hit her with them!" Emily's hair began throwing shards at the Buttwitch. They exploded on impact with her, and she was reeling. Emily snagged a particularly large shard and sprung herself into the air, driving the shard into the Buttwitch's good eye. She fell backwards, pink smoke spewing from her face. Suddenly, Collin, now as buff as Dr. Champion, swung his body- which had a shell like growth on it- knocking the Buttwitch clear across the island.

"Yes! I love being hot again!" He high-fived Dr. Champion as they both returned to normal size.

"ARE YOU OKAY!?" Doctor Champion yelled. Emily and I looked at each other, and I moved over and hugged her. She wrapped her hair around my back and we sat like that for a few seconds before she let me go.

"Sorry, I bled on your face," she muttered, trying to wipe blood from my cheek, as I began crying.

"It's fine. That was just… the scariest thing that's ever happened to me," I said.

"Me too," Emily said. Our sigh of relief was short however, as we both realized we'd forgotten something.

"James!"

"Kaileigh! Can you fly that surfboard thing?" Emily asked. I began thinking about the board, but its ring was missing from my leg.

"No, I don't know how I brought it out the first time," I said, panicking.

"I'm tired, but let's see if I can do... a tandem paraglider." Emily grabbed my arm and pulled me close as her hair formed a spring. We shot into the air and her hair formed into a paraglider, as well as a handle for me. Endless Island's beach was a war zone of fires and craters, although it smelled like baked goods cooking. This gave me mixed feelings. Collin was trying to put out a barn on fire.

"Should we help them?" I ask.

"He's got like seven barns, Kaileigh. We're the only ones that can help James!"

"Down to the right!" I suddenly spot something red. James was in a crater. Emily's hair shifted into a parachute and she grabbed me around the side. We land and I run over to James.

"Well, he's not bleeding," I say in relief.

"Well, lucky him," Emily says with a hint of sarcasm, "I don't like the way his arm is bent." She was right, it was at an angle it probably shouldn't be.

"We need to warp him out of here," I say. Emily picks him up with her hair and grabs my hand. "Take us home," I say to my key, but we don't go anywhere.

"Really, Kaileigh?" Emily holds her wristband up.

"Let's be friends forever on Endless." Like with mine, nothing happened. She shook her arm. "Hey, come on! I said the stupid thing!"

"Let's just try this."

I pulled James' key out of his shirt. Emily and I grabbed it and held it in the air. In an instant, we were consumed by James' red aura, and arrived back home... kind of.

"We're in James' room, aren't we?" Emily whispered. James had a ton of sports stuff in his room. It kind of surprised me.

"Well, I'm not getting caught sneaking in a twelve year old boy's room. Let's leave him and go!" Emily whisper-shouted.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yes. This requires no explanation from us if no one sees us. Let's just go back to Endless."

I reluctantly warped back with Emily, our keys now mysteriously working again, and then we warped back to our homes.

I laid in my bed for a while, wondering if finding Reggie was worth it, or if the Samurai was right about Endless. I worried about James, but I had to pretend I had no clue what happened-

I was also thinking a lot about what Emily said to me, for whatever reason.

To Be Continued in: Pineapple Neck Sprain Forever


	10. Pineapple Neck Sprain Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

10

Pineapple Neck Sprain Forever

Spring break came in quietly, and to my surprise, it warmed up enough to leave only the dirty piles of snow that the plows leave. I hadn't heard from James or Emily for a few days, and instead only had my Endless key to stare at. Do I go back? Will James or Emily go back? Suddenly, a knock came from my door. Grandma came in before I could really answer.

"Kaileigh, why have you been sitting in your room this whole break? Why aren't you with that boy you've brought home all those times?" I just looked down. "People fight all the time, sweetie. He'll come around in time. Anyway, there's a young lady at the door asking about you." Grandma walked away. I ran down the stairs and found Emily at the door, complete with a crutch around her left arm.

"I haven't heard from you for days, Emily! Why are you at my door?" I asked.

"Well, I was hanging out with Nira and the girls at the mall, but they ditched me because I couldn't keep up. Now I want to play Foursquare with Dr. Champion, but my key won't work." she said in one breath.

"I don't really want to go to Endless." I said.

"Don't be a baby-"

"You two got hurt! I think you and I almost died!" Emily seemed a little taken aback.

"People get hurt playing in real life too, you know." she quipped.

"Not by a rampaging insect woman."

"She's gone. Collin yeeted her across the island." I wasn't going to win. I submitted, letting Emily up to my room.

"I've never been in your room… you have a lot of pictures, and a surfboard… didn't your house burn down?" She stopped suddenly.

"Yeah, but we were getting ready to move, so a lot of our non essentials were in the garage, which wasn't attached to the house. I had to get new clothes and whatnot, but lots of old pictures and things like that are in boxes in the attic now." I was on the verge of crying now and I sat on my bed, head in my hands. Suddenly I felt the bed bounce and a hand fall on my back.

"I've never really gone through something like that, but I get it. A bunch of what you grew up with, and the people you lived with aren't here anymore. You're probably a lot stronger than me, Kaileigh." I fell into her lap crying.

"Come on, let's go to Endless!" she said after a minute. She got up and grabbed my Endless key from my desk. We held it up and were consumed by my yellow aura.

"Oww!" I looked over and Emily was hopping on her good foot. "Landed right on the bad foot!"

"Why didn't you bring your crutch?" I asked.

"Might've come to life. I don't bring things here." Emily said.

"Come to life?" I ask.

"Have you really never noticed you can't bring certain things back from Endless?"

"No. I've only ever brought my phone here." I said.

"Huh, that's surprising. I figured it out when my mom tried to get me into makeup the first time, so I brought all the stuff she brought me here and threw it in the ocean. Then it came to life and tried to kill me, which is how I learned my Endless power."

"This place is terrifying." I replied.

"Me, Shane, and Tristan agreed never to bring anything here again after the Spiderman incident though."

"There's a story there- and I need to know." I was intrigued.

"He's probably with Sadmantha."

"Who?"

"You'll understand why you haven't met her. Hop on." Emily coiled her hair into a spring as I hopped into her arms. She launched us across the island. I looked down and saw some of the islanders jumping on some kind of jelly candy like a trampoline. I should remember that spot. We then landed on the beach, in front of a barn. Emily knocked.

"Hello?" A shrill voice answered.

"Sadmantha, can we come in?" She asked.

"Are you sure you want to? I'm pretty boring."

"Yes I'm sure." A feminine looking creature with a water-like texture opened the door. The barn was mostly bare on the inside, but she had a TV and a couch in the center. Suddenly someone walked out of another room. Spiderman himself entered the room and waved.

"Hey, Spiderman." Emily waved. Spiderman set down a tea kettle on an end table and shot Sadmantha a thumbs up.

"He can't talk." Emily whispered to me. "Sadmantha likes him because he's a good listener." she continues.

"He seems nice. Why was he the last thing you brought to Endless?" I asked.

"Hey, Spidey, can you show my friend the thing?" Emily asks. He shoots a confused look back. "Yes, I mean it." Spiderman moves outside of the barn and points his hands as if he were going to shoot webs, but instead, spiders start shooting out- and not a small number. A truly mortifying number of spiders. He stops, and the spiders scatter.

"There were no spiders on Endless before we brought him here." Emily says.

Soon, we left Spiderman and Sadmantha behind for the Foursquare arena, where I happily sat in the bleachers with Beth and crew. I didn't realize until the game that Emily had wrapped her hair around the bad leg so she could walk. As she, Doctor Champion, Tasty Troy, and a blue woman, who I was told was named 'Doctor Tenders' took the field, I noticed the Queen was not in her spot. Had she died fighting the Buttwitch? Was her last action saving me from drowning? I'd been thinking about that dream I had when the Buttwitch knocked me out, where Reggie talked to me. Suddenly, I was refocused as Tammy blew the whistle and threw the ball in. Doctor Tenders produced a large tennis racket from nowhere and she spiked the ball to Tasty Troy, who caught it and shot it at Emily. Emily's hair became a fist and punched the ball away. She really looked happy when she played foursquare, however, she was definitely expending focus on her bad leg, as she was playing the game with only one hair appendage.

Eventually she fell to Doctor Champion, and we warped back to my house. As we sat in my room she looked at me.

"Feel better?" She asked.

"Yeah, I do." I said.

"Well, now that you are in a good mood, I can show you the surprise!" She produced her phone and scrolled to something before showing me.

"Pineapple Neck Sprain, the All Out Tour." I read.

"Look at today's date, dork." she said.

"Playing at The Outpost in Bethune, Iowa. Are you taking me to a concert?" I asked.

"I'm taking you to a concert. So we can meet Esther!" She seemed excited.

"Don't you need backstage passes to meet the band?" I asked.

"This is a local band concert, Kaileigh. It's not fancy."

"How 'not fancy'?"

"I mean, it's behind the community college." Emily shrugged.

A late day storm set in on our drive to Bethune. We sat in silence, listening to Emily's usual music choices.

"Do you feel bad not having James here?" She suddenly asked.

"I mean, he almost lost an arm. He has a reason."

"Yeah I've been bored without having him to play Apex with me."

"Apex?" I was confused.

"Right, you hate games. It's like Fortnite."

"You play video games with James?"

"Well, yeah. None of my friends like them." A moment passed.

"Your friends don't seem very friendly," I say.

"What? No, I love the girls. We do all sorts of stuff together, just not video games."

"They ditched you because you sprained your ankle."

"I just couldn't keep up with them."

Silence had filled the car until we were well within Bethune, passing the community college.

"Well, you were right. It's behind the community college." My voice was loaded with sarcasm. The building was a faded black color, bars over the windows, and directly behind the grounds of the college, separated by an old fence, overrun with plant life. We parked in a pothole littered lot, and entered the side of the building. A gentleman in his 40s took twenty dollars and a driver's license from Emily, before returning the license with two armbands, adorned with smiley faces. Emily put hers on, and without asking, grabbed my arm and put mine on.

"You have to wear these if you are under 21," she explained. The concert area was past the bar, which had lighting fixtures from the eighties. It was an open room with a stage and no seats. We'd arrived as a band was setting up- Sola Manor.

"Doesn't 3 opening acts sound like a lot?" I asked her as we slouched back on a support beam.

"I've seen it as high as seven when I saw Rise Against here."

"I'm tired just thinking about that." I looked at the floor.

I didn't know enough about music to describe Sola Manor, as well as the other opening acts well. The music was deafening, however, and the bass was strong enough to blow my pant legs back. Most of the lyrics seemed to be about breakups, or depression in general. Needless to say, it's not the upbeat Disney Channel music I like, but Emily was tapping her foot or headbanging the entire time. Her hair was frizzy from all the motion.

A group of four people now entered the stage, two boys and two girls.

"That one's Esther," Emily pointed. She had short hair, and was surprisingly tall for a girl. She wore a tight red and yellow outfit.

"Cool outfit," I remarked to Emily. The band proceeded to play thirty minutes of music similar to the theme of the night. However, Esther and the other guitarist did a lot of dancing and singing at each other. At one point, the singer, a girl with dreads and a green tank top, jumped off the stage and grabbed a beam, swinging over the audience. By the time the set ended, all four members of Pineapple Neck Sprain were sweaty and had frayed hair. Esther suddenly took the mic from the lead singer.

"I hope you had a fun show tonight, Bethune!" The audience screamed. "This is where I grew up, and we always play a special song I wrote about someone I miss from here." Esther walked over and grabbed a different guitar and started playing a few notes. "This song is called _Endless Dreamer_." I exchanged looks with Emily. The song was much slower and more somber than the other music that had been played. Esther sang about what I interpreted as memories about Reggie. The song ended on a sad note, with the band bowing their heads.

Emily and I waited our turn to meet Esther and the band post-show, and after several minutes, finally got up to Esther.

"Esther! Big fan!" Emily shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you both! Did you like the show?" Esther asked.

"I loved it! You guys had so much energy on stage, and that last song was beautiful." I said.

"Endless Dreamer is always hard for me to sing, but I want to do it when we play in Bethune." Esther said.

"It's about your friend Reggie Abbott right?" Emily asked. Esther got blown back.

"You must be a huge fan to have dug that up. Yeah, it's about Reggie." Esther had a sad look on her face.

"I'm not sure where I got that name, _Endless Dreamer_, but it suits her very well. She always had the wildest imagination. She used to make all these weird creatures up. She also did some stop motion films with our friend, Conelly. None of us really talked much after Reggie disappeared though, especially Conelly. Anyway, I'm going on a tangent."

"One more thing, does Endless Island ring a bell to you?" Emily asked.

"Endless Island…. No, sorry, girls. Let me autograph your stuff. I have to talk to everyone behind you still." Esther smiled.

After Esther had autographed everything Emily bought, we set on our way.

"She was nice." I said.

"Yeah, but she doesn't remember anything." Emily sighed.

"What now?" I asked.

"We have to go right to the source, I think. We're going to find Reggie's parents." Emily slammed her fist into her palm with determination. So much determination it was scary.

"It's sad Esther doesn't remember Endless. You'd think it'd be hard to forget." I said as we re-entered Emily's car.

_Esther finished signing autographs, but something was bothering her. She took a detour to check her bag, pulling out a small instrument she'd made when she was a kid. She shook the instrument, releasing a piece of paper. Esther un-crumpled the photo, depicting herself and her friends around age 12. She flipped it, revealing the words: '__W__ith this key__, __create a door, to take me to your righteous shores__-__ to give us fun when there is none, and make reality undone__! T__o the edges of infinity, Endless Island, set me free!'. _

_The writing was signed by Reggie._

_ "Endless Island__,__" Esther muttered._

To Be Continued in: Ms. Abbott Forever


	11. Ms Abbott Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

11

Ms. Abbott Forever

A red aura suddenly entered the skies of Endless: James.

"Emily, to the landing pad!" No sooner did she hug me and spring us into the air.

"Wow, you two are working better in unison," James said as we landed. We both immediately hugged him.

"It's been a lonely two months without you, dude," Emily said.

"Ditto," I replied.

"So what'd I miss?" he asked.

"Well… I found my Endless Power, sorta." I concentrated and partially summoned my surfboard, but couldn't quite do it. "It hasn't been as easy as the day the Buttwitch attacked."

"Whatever happened to the Buttwitch?" James probed.

"Not sure. Haven't seen her since, although there have been a few weird occurrences we think had to do with her," Emily said.

"Like what?"

"The time the entire Foursquare arena melted," Emily noted.

"Or the time I got amnesia," I said.

"There was Guy Pleasant's emo phase," Emily said.

"Oh, and the thing with that swimming pool." Suddenly Emily jabbed me with her elbow, and she was blushing. "Right, that was supposed to be a secret." I laughed a little.

"We haven't seen that samurai person since that one time, also," Emily changed the subject.

"Yeah, that was still terrifying..." I added.

"Well, uh... I may have found my Endless power, too," James said sheepishly.

"What!?" Emily and I screamed together.

"It's kind of stupid, though. When I fought the Buttwitch, well… just watch." He reared back and pointed his arm forward, conjuring a dodgeball, which hit Emily in the face.

"You can summon dodge balls? That's… something," I said, failing to sound impressed.

"Great arm, though." Emily was rubbing her face. "I'm glad you're back. We can engage the next part of my master plan to find Seventeen."

"Oh no," I said.

"We meet her mom!" Emily was met with silence.

"Her mom is not going to talk to us," I said bluntly.

"We have to try!" Emily was trying to sound as enthused as possible.

"Fine," I gave up as we all raised our Endless keys.

"Emily, how safe do you think your car is?" James asked from the backseat, as we all noted Emily's car was louder than normal.

"Reasonably safe," she replied.

"Reasonably..." James mocked.

"Well, next time, we can take your car, James." He did not respond to her. Emily played us another CD on the way, this time called 'From Under the Cork Tree'. The music got us all the way to Bethune and into a neighborhood of houses that were probably very nice about thirty years prior.

"Which one belongs to Reggie's mom?" James asked. Emily pointed at a house numbered 126, the rope which holds her car door closed in her mouth for some reason.

"Get that out of your mouth." I ripped the rope from her teeth as she finished tying. We turned around and James had already rung the doorbell. We ran over to him, unprepared as a gray haired woman answered the door.

"Are you Ms. Abbott?" James asked.

"No, I'm Cathy," she said.

"Cathy, stop answering my door!" Another woman, slightly overweight and with hair like Reggie's walked up. "What do you kids n-" Suddenly, she bent down to James and reached for him, producing Reggie's Endless Key from his necklace. "Where did you get this?"

"It's, uhhhhhhh... a replica! We're trying to learn more about the missing girl!" I said, in hopes of salvaging this disaster.

"I don't want to talk about Reggie anymore. Go away."

"What's the harm, Judy? You haven't even changed her room since then," Cathy said.

"I'm not letting some strange kids into my house!"

"Are you three insane?" Dustin suddenly appeared from the top of the stairs. "I told you not to follow me."

"Oh, this is your doing, Dustin? Fine. Do whatever you want. Just don't let them destroy anything." Judy Abbott returned to her living room in defeat. Dustin descended the stairs to greet us.

"How desperate are you that you'd bother my mom?" he asked.

"We think we are onto something, but we need someone who knew her, other than Esther, at least," Emily said.

"Todd," Dustin said. "I'll give you his address if you leave my mom, this house, me and... I guess Cathy, alone."

"Done," I say. Dustin ran to the kitchen and back, returning with a sticky note.

"Now, get out," he slammed the door.

We found our way to the apartment complex, finding the address we were given was more or less in the basement, James knocked on the door and it was opened by a short girl with a side-shave haircut.

"What do you need, kids? Are you scouts selling cookies?" She asked.

"I could go for a thin-mint," I elbowed Emily as she spoke.

"We're looking for Todd," I said.

"Why?" She replied.

"Reggie's brother sent us," I replied.

"Oh, gosh, not him again. Todd! Reggie's brother sent us more trespassers!" She entered her home, and a taller man replaced her.

"What are you here, for? Something about Reggie? Because I don't want to talk about it."

"We're just trying to figure out what happened, and Esther was no help," Emily said.

"No surprise, Esther and Conelly don't even talk to me anymore."

"Connelly?" James asked.

"Yeah she and Reggie were close. Conelly really went off the deep end though, Gwen and I don't think she's really ... stable. I wouldn't bother her." Todd scratched the back of his head.

"Hey!" James pointed at something and passed by Todd.

"C'mon, kid, you can't just go in there." Todd turned as James pointed to something on the wall, it looked like Reggie's Endless key, but more square. He pulled out Reggie's key and the two almost seemed to glow as the touched.

"Where did you get that?" Todd looked at Reggie's key. "They always wore this, until the day they disappeared."

"It's a replica," I said.

"No, it isn't. Not down to the band-aids holding it together with her drawings on them. Where did this come from?" The three of us looked at each other and James pulled out his Endless key.

"Let's just show him," James said.

To Be Continued in: Todd Forever


	12. Todd Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

12

Todd Forever

"Take us to Endless."

James hugged all of us, including Todd, and we were enveloped in his signature red aura. I landed at the gate, standing with Emily and James.

"Where's Todd?" I asked. James pointed to the mountain. A purple glow was swirling in the large toilet before it shot over to the landing zone. Todd now stood in front of us, clad in blue. His skin was now purple.

"Where am I?!" Todd looked around in a panic as the islanders began to gather.

"HELLO, NEW PERSON! I'M DOCTOR CHAMPION!" screamed Doctor Champion.

"You look familiar…" Collin was inspecting Todd, very much invading Todd's personal space.

"Am I high right now?" Todd asked.

"Endless is better than any high I've ever had." Emily said.

"Emily! James is right here!" I said.

"It's okay, I've been around other kids doing drugs before." James said.

"Really?" I asked, as more creatures surrounded Todd. James nodded at me.

"Oh my god. I'm the sheltered one." I muttered.

"Hello, Todd. Long time no see!" Everyone stopped at the sound of the Buttwitch's voice.

"...Do I know you, green lady?" Todd said.

"Ah, so you don't remember like everyone else. What a strange power my island has."

"Your island?" Emily asked angrily.

"The adults are talking, kids." Buttwitch gestured her away. "You used to come here when you were a child and destroy my island."

"It looks fine to me." Todd said.

"It's not fine! It's sticky, disorganized, and utterly chaotic." she complained.

"So is my apartment, between having guests." Todd continued.

"Oh, so you haven't learned to appreciate grown up things yet. Are you still hanging out with Esther and Seventeen? Are they adults yet, at least?"

"Well, Esther left town for college. Isn't Seventeen some character Reggie made up?"

"We think it's what she went by on Endless. A lot of the islanders know me as Candi." Emily said. I'd almost forgotten she went by Candi on Endless.

"Well, I haven't seen Reggie since she was seventeen. No one has." Suddenly the ground began shaking around us. Out of nowhere the Queen uppercut the Buttwitch into the air.

"That's for last time." The Queen then turned to us. "No adults on Endless Island."

"He's helping us." Emily responded.

"I can be here if I want." Todd said.

"When someone becomes an adult, they can no longer remember Endless. He will forget what he's seen once he leaves. This will happen to you all eventually too, and it's already starting for the pink haired girl."

"What happens if I stay?" Todd asked.

"You'll lose your humanity and become a resident of Endless Island, forgetting your former life." Todd suddenly got a horrified look on his face.

"Kids, I want to go home."

"Good choice." The Queen began leaving.

"This place can't be real." Todd began shaking a bit. I motioned for James to return us. We were swallowed by James' aura again, and returned to Todd's home.

"What the hell was that!?" Gwen came into the room. "I heard a noise and you all were gone, and suddenly you're back?"

"I don't know… there was something about an island, and Reggie… I need to lay down." Todd ventured into his home slowly.

"You kids should go." Gwen forced us out.

"Well, this was less than productive," I said as we walked back to the car.

"I mean... we learned something." James says.

"What?" I asked.

"We should not stay on Endless too long." James shuddered.

"Shit." We looked at Emily, and her eyes met with a flat tire on her car.

"You know how to change that, right, Emily?" I asked.

"No." she said, looking a little panicked.

"Why do you sound so worried?" I asked.

"My dad will yell at me when I call him. Say this is my fault, probably bitch the entire time he's here fixing it." Suddenly we were interrupted by a bouncing sound as the spare tire rolled next to the car.

"Are you two going to help or not? Because I'm already going to miss curfew." James was holding some sort of tool from the trunk.

"You know how to change a tire?" Emily and I ask in unison.

"My dad does his own tire rotations, so he makes me help him." James explained. James then put down his tool near the front tire and began cranking the handle.

"This lifts the car. There's a notch it goes in, under here." He points. He continued this process for a few minutes until there was a small amount of clearance for the bad tire.

"Now, we need to take the nuts off the wheel." James attached the crank to the wheel and desperately tried to turn it.

"Come on!" he screamed. "This is where my dad normally calls me weak before doing this part himself." James said as he gave up.

"So, I just turn it?" I ask. James nods. I grip the tool and start pushing, it gives, nearly sending me forward onto my face.

"Damn." Emily says, as she comes over to try. "If you can do that, so can I." Emily moved to a new nut and began trying to force it loose, giving up after about a minute.

"Why are you so strong?" James asked me.

"I exercise all the time. My parents always were hiking, and surfing, and all sorts of stuff. It's in my nature." I look down at the ground. Suddenly both James and Emily were hugging me.

Eventually with James' guidance, my strength, and Emily's… supervision, we were on the road back to Dubuque. The trip was set to an album titled 'A Fever You Can't Sweat Out', which sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

The sun was well down as we dropped James off and Emily turned to take me home.

"Sorry for wasting our time." she said.

"Honestly it's fine, Emily. At least I had fun with you two. We should stop bothering random adults about their missing friend, though."

"Yeah, I'm going to drop this Reggie thing. I want to go back to enjoying Endless."

"Endless sounds kind of scary lately, too."

"Yeah..." Emily was silent the rest of the trip home. I got into my house as thunder rumbled. It would storm soon.

Later...

Thunk. I woke up. Rain was pattering on the window in my room. Thunder struck with lightning. Thunk. It sounded like something was knocking on my window. I went to look at the clock, but the power was out. I went over to the window as lightning illuminated Emily standing in my yard with a hand full of rocks. I pointed her to the door and ran down the stairs. I opened the door to Emily holding James against her, both soaking wet.

"Why are you here!?" I whisper-yelled. Emily pointed at James, who looked up at me.

"James, your eye!" I said, much louder. His eye was swollen and had been bleeding.

"It was his dad, Kaileigh." Emily said.

"I was late getting home, and he was drunk." James said quietly.

"It's not an excuse, dude!" Emily said.

"I need to get you guys dry clothes. I hope you don't mind wearing some of mine." I ran up the stairs and went into my closet, trying to find things small enough for James, and big enough for Emily. Why was she so tall?

I returned with a small pink top and shorts for James, and a big t-shirt and shorts for Emily. The pair retreated to different rooms, and James returned first.

"James, you look adorable." I said compulsively. My flowery top actually complemented him somehow.

"I like it too. It feels pretty." he said. Emily returned wearing the shirt I'd given her, which wasn't quite long enough, but she was still wearing her jeans.

"Yeah, I tried the shorts and I would've ripped them, I'll just suffer. Screw me for being 5'10, I guess."

"You are really tall." I said. "Now, what are we going to do? You can't all be here. It's weird for us to be with a boy as it is!"

"He can't go home. He ran out of the house and called me in a panic, and my parents would freak out if I brought a bleeding kid home this late."

"Fine, we can all sleep in my room." I lead the pair back to my room. I went back into my bed and Emily hopped onto the end. James sat next to her. "Okay- we're sleeping on the floor then." I said, getting out of my bed. The other two moved to the floor as I pulled my blankets off to lay on.

"Thanks, Kaileigh. For giving us somewhere to go."

"Don't mention it, James. You guys are my friends. I also have no clue what you are going through."

"He's never done this before." James said.

"I'm sorry, dude." Emily replied.

"I don't really feel sad about it anymore. Now I just feel... empty." James added. "I think I just want to lie down." James settled to my right, but Emily was still sitting to my left.

"Are you okay, Emily?" I asked.

"Honestly? I'm starting to regret keeping my wet jeans on. I'm cold." She stood up. "Would it be too weird if I just took them off?" I froze immediately at the thought, but James was there to break me out of it.

"Yes, that would be weird." he said in a sarcastic and tired voice.

"Well, there's no way all three of us are sleeping, then. Wanna just go to Endless?" Emily said.

"Do you two actually have your keys?" I asked.

"Yes." both replied.

"Mine hasn't been working, though." Emily added. James was already standing up.

"Take me to Endless." he said before being whisked away by his red aura.

"Sorry about the thing with the pants, Kaileigh." Emily said as she grabbed my hand to be taken to Endless.

"D-don't mention it." I flubbed. "Take me to Endless." My aura pulled us both in, so we could catch up with James.

Meanwhile….

A puff of smoke filled the home of the Buttwitch and Big Deal.

"It's done." The Buttwitch smiled a sharp toothy smile.

"What is it, ma'am?" Big Deal asked, coughing, his eyes still adjusting to the smoke clearing.

"My master plan to defeat those new brats, Big Deal. I've lured them into a sense of safety with all of those other plans that were destined to fail, all so I could make this!"

"What about that lady with the sword?" Big Deal asked.

"That adult child is already on Endless." She looked out of her window to see a yellow streak headed for the landing pad. "Now all three of the brats are, too."

To Be Continued In: The Masked Samurai Forever


	13. The Masked Samurai Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

13

The Masked Samurai Forever

"So, what do you want to do now?" Emily asked James, who was watching the waves roll in to Endless Island.

"I don't know, maybe that bouncy pillow thing?" he suggested. We sat for a bit before someone came up behind us.

"Candi!" The voice said. We turned to see Tasty Troy behind us.

"It's not the best time, Tasty Troy." Emily said.

"It's an emergency! People are getting sick!" He said. We all looked at each other.

"What do you mean, sick?" The three of us asked. Tasty Troy beckoned us to follow him. We arrived to a more populated area, near one of Collin's barns. Dr. Champion was lying on the ground. As we came close, I understood. He had glowing green cracks running all over his body.

"He hasn't talked in hours." Tasty Troy said.

"Is anyone else like this?" Emily asked.

"In the barn." Tasty Troy said. We entered Collin's home- he, too, was covered in cracks. In front of him was the Samurai. The three of us all gasped.

"Kids, truce." The Samurai said.

"What do you mean, truce?" I asked. She turned around and put up her hands, revealing green cracks on her gauntlets and mask.

"But… you're human." Emily stuttered.

"This could happen to us, too, then." I added.

"I think I got it from touching the other infected." The Samurai said.

"Who else?" James asked.

"Well besides these two, just Borbo." she said. "I don't understand why it's only affected these three and myself though. Leave, kids. It's less safe than ever."

"I touched Doctor Champion." I said grimly.

"Why don't all four of us just leave Endless?" Emily suggested. The Samurai reached into her coat and removed an object. She held it in the air and was taken away from Endless. She soon came streaking across the sky back to the landing pad.

"I'm guessing the cracks are still going to be there when she gets back." I said.

"That is correct." the Samurai had come up behind them.

"How are you so fast?" Emily said in shock.

"That's part of my Endless power." she replies. I lost focus on the conversation suddenly when I noticed something alarming.

"Guys, look at her feet." I said. Her legs were now covered in cracks as well.

"Well, it looks like my Endless power made it spread." the Samurai noted.

"That is, in fact, how it works." The Buttwitch was leaning against a tree.

"I should've known this was you." the Samurai said. "Turn it off, you're hurting the islanders."

"No, I don't think I will. Three of these creatures is nothing compared to finally eradicating you brats like the pests you are." The Samurai pulled out her sword and sprinted at the Buttwitch, who put up her arms to block. The blade hit her and shattered on impact.

"What!?" The Samurai said.

"Would you like to try, surfer girl, dodgeball boy, hair girl?" The Buttwitch taunted. No sooner did two clumps of Emily's hair blow past me and wrap around the Buttwitch. When Emily pulled, the hair ripped apart. I looked back at her, her hair now glowing green where it had ripped.

"How did you take away our Endless powers?" I demanded.

"It took a few months of planning, needless to say. It's one of the most sinister things I've ever made. Even I can't stop it!"

"You better be able to stop it!" The Samurai bellowed as she punched the Buttwitch in the face. I noticed her gauntlet crumble a bit after.

"For someone who should be getting weaker, that one still hurt." the Buttwitch said.

"My Endless power is agility, the strength and swordplay are things I bring from the real world." the Samurai brags.

"It doesn't matter, you'll be too weak to do anything soon enough. You and all of the 'Endless Heroes'." As she speaks the ground begins to shake a bit. "I'm ready for you this time, brute!" The Buttwitch yells as the Queen of Endless jumps into the air and lines up for an elbow drop. When she hits the ground shakes and sand fills the air.

When everything settles the Buttwitch is still standing.

"Seems you weren't fast enough." she brags

"You shouldn't assume I'm not fast." Suddenly the Queen begins unloading a series of rapid fire punches.

"Well, this is a surprising development!" The Buttwitch says as the Queen stops fighting. "Perhaps I'll just wait until you are subdued to end the brats!" The Queen turns around and her hands are gone, her arms ending in the same glowing green that was afflicting everyone else.

"Wait. Does that mean she's not from Endless?" James asks. Chunks began falling off of the Queen, like when she'd been defeated previously, until she crumbled into a pile. The Buttwitch had taken a seat and was sipping tea with her cohort, Big Deal.

"Keep an eye on her, Emily." I said as I walked over to the Queen with James and the Samurai. I noticed a sphere lying in the rubble.

"This is her head. It didn't come off last time she went down like this." Her eyes were no longer present on the orb.

"Guys!" James called from where he was standing. I joined him and the samurai to see there was an arm sticking out of the rubble. The three of us cleared it off, revealing a dust covered girl wearing a strange helmet and chest plate. I dusted off the front of the chest plate and revealed some writing on it, the number 17. James and I took a collective step back and the Samurai ran forward.

"Reggie!" The Samurai called out as she threw off her mask and helmet, revealing her long dark hair. "It's me! It's Conelly!" The entire beach was quiet, save for the chuckling of the Buttwitch.

To Be Continued In: Conelly Forever


	14. Conelly Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

14

Conelly Forever

Emily nudged me. I snapped out of my confusion and looked over at her. She looked drained.

"Well, this is what we wanted… we found her." I said to her. Conelly was laying in the rubble with Reggie silently until she heard us speaking.

"I almost wish you hadn't found her." Conelly said.

"It's obvious you were looking, too." Emily said.

"I didn't expect her to turn into a rock monster." Conelly replied softly.

"What if that's what happens when you stay on Endless too long?" James suggested from behind us.

"She did tell me she'd met a kid who came here and turned into a doll."

"Wait. Really!?" I shouted uncontrollably. "Is it safe for us to even be here?"

"No! I've been trying to keep you out since I found out you were looking for Reggie!" Conelly shouted.

"We thought we were the only people who could find her." James said quietly.  
"Honestly, I felt like I was doing something right. For the first time in a long time." Emily added.

"I am ride or die with these two." I looked into Emily's eyes and smiled, then down to James and smiled as well.

"Are you sure about that?" The Buttwitch asked with a grin on her face. "Emily doesn't even talk to her old friends anymore, she replaced them with you two."

"Hey! That's not true!" Emily stamped her feet.

"You were better being a bully instead of hanging with these brats." Emily retreated at the Buttwitch's words.

"Reggie and her friends were 'friends forever' too, but look where that got them. They grew up, and grew apart. Well, except for her." Buttwitch pointed at Conelly, who looked back with angry, tear filled eyes.

"They were seventeen! Reggie never got to be an adult!" Conelly yelled.

"If Big Deal is right, she chose to stay here, and abandon you." Buttwitch mused, in her most antagonistic voice.

"You seem to have forgotten who put you in that coma." Conelly stood up and began walking towards the Buttwitch. "Flaps!" The octopus creature appeared and spat a red long sword at Conelly, who caught it with one hand. "You also forgot about Flaps, I think."

"What should we do?" Emily said, looking at me and James.

"Nothing. It's time I did something. Flaps, hit me!" I walked forward and held out a hand to catch a large hammer, fully colored in Reggie's gaudy color-scheme. Conelly looked back, probably shocked that I could lift Reggie's weapons. I sprinted and swung the hammer, the Buttwitch caught it as Conelly took a swing which was also deflected, as the Buttwitch grew another set of arms. The Buttwitch threw my hammer aside and uppercut Conelly off the ground and into the water, with a big splash of the sugary sweet Endless Island sea. As I regained myself, I accidentally flipped a switch on the hammer, causing it to generate a rocket from it's back and launch forward nearly tearing my arms off and embedding itself in the side of Collin's barn.

"That's what you get for trying to stand up to me, child!" Buttwitch turned her back to me and headed in the direction of Conelly. I focused on pulling the hammer out of the wall as I began to hear the sounds of combat and splashing water. Suddenly two hands appeared on the shaft of the hammer. I looked down to see James nod at me, and Emily's hands soon followed suit. We pulled the hammer free and I looked back at them.

"Get her." Emily said and gave me a slap on the back. I turned towards Conelly and the Buttwitch as Conelly took another uppercut to the stomach and sailed further out to sea. I went into a full on sprint as the Buttwitch turned around, but she didn't hear me fast enough and I swung the hammer underhand and pushed the button. The rocket engaged and the hammer flew out of my hands and into the Buttwitch, sending both into the air. Conelly got up and took a swing as the Buttwitch fell. Everything fell silent as the Buttwitch and hammer hit the water. Conelly bent over and reached into the water, pulling up the Buttwitch's decapitated head.

"Cure, now." Conelly said, holding her by the hair.

"No, I told you I don't have it." Buttwitch said. Her body soon emerged from the water, arms out, probably searching for its head.

"Fine. You!" Conelly pointed at Big Deal. "Trade, the cure for her head."

"O… okay!" Big Deal produced a vial from who knows where and walked over to Conelly making the trade.

"Big Deal, you're such a disappointment." Buttwitch said.

"Yes, ma'am." he said, turning to the woods.

"Wait, turn me around, Big Deal." He followed her instructions. "Come on, idiot!" She yelled at her body, which was feeling the side of Collin's barn. It came running and went full force into a tree.

"I'll be back, brats!" She yelled as the three vanished into the woods.

"Yeah, we know!" Emily yelled back sarcastically. Conelly took a drop of the liquid from the vial. Then passed it off to Emily, James, and myself. It was extraordinarily bitter and gave me double vision briefly. I handed it back to Conelly and she took it to the affected islanders, and finally to Reggie, who began reforming immediately. Conelly's katana reformed and she pulled it from its sheath.

"Thank you, kids… and I'm sorry."

"Sorry for w-" I was cut off by Conelly rapidly slashing at all three of us. I looked but none of us were hurt.

"How could you!?" Suddenly Emily was crying, and holding out her hands, which contained bits of her friendship bracelet. I looked down and my necklace was in pieces on the ground.

"Why?" I asked.

"Endless isn't safe. Look what happened to Reggie." she replied. Suddenly, she grouped us up and grabbed James' intact Endless key. We warped from Endless and appeared back in my room. She then shattered James' key in her hand and warped back to Endless with her own.

"What do we do now?" James asked.

"Nothing." Emily said, walking out the door.

To Be Continued In: Alone Forever


	15. Alone Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

15

Alone Forever

My bed seemed particularly soft as I admired my ceiling from it. Light poured in through my window, illuminating the dust in the air. Since Conelly destroyed our Endless keys, our trio wasn't really a trio anymore. All of us tried to make new keys, but none worked. Emily had even cried a bit on our last try. Since then, she'd more or less been a ghost, outside of running with Nira's group at school. James still texted me once in a while. He was lonely without Emily to talk to on the computer.

A knocking came from the front door. My grandmother's house was eerily silent as I went down the stairs. I opened the door and found James.

"Hey, Kaileigh." He did a tiny wave with his hand.

"Wanna go to the mall?"

"I don't really get hanging out at the mall." I replied.

"It's better than not leaving your house all day," he said. I pondered for a bit, and decided he was right. I shrugged and we started walking. The sidewalks of Dubuque still had puddles on them from the last storm. James was making an effort to jump through all of them, skipping between several.

"You are in a good mood," I joked.

"Well, yeah! I haven't gotten to see you outside of school in a while!" James cheered.

"Yeah, I guess I just haven't felt like talking since what happened." I sank into my shirt a little.

"You know Endless didn't make us friends, right?" James said, jumping into another puddle.

"It just seems like we did all of our bonding there," I said quietly.

"That's not true. What about the drives to Bethune?" James noted.

"That was still about Endless, though," I pointed out.

"How about the concert with Emily? She talked a lot about that after you two got back."

"Was it really that exciting for her?" I asked, a little curious.

"Yeah, she told me all about it in a voice chat. She seemed excited about it."

"Huh." I shrugged a little.

"Also there was the time you let us sleep over!" James noted.

"You didn't have to help us, or let us wear your clothes." I finally took a pause and thought about all of it.

"Maybe you have a point, James." I gave him a soft smile before jumping into a puddle and soaking the bottom of his pants. We both began laughing loudly as the mall grew near.

"I know a cool store near the entrance!" James said, as the humid outside air was replaced with the AC of the mall. He dragged me by the arm to a store called 'Games Galore' which appeared to be full of puzzles and board games. He grabbed a game that was called 'Dragon Panic'.

"I didn't know you liked board games, too," I said as I observed the game.

"All games are games, and they are more fun with friends!" He cheered.

"Well this one seems a little high level for me, I'm more of a Monopoly, or Life skill level," I noted. He put the game back and ran over to another corner where a small contraption was. I walked over and noticed it was some kind of track that was looping marbles around.

"What kind of stuff do you want to do?" James asked, not looking away from the marbles.

"I doubt there's a water park in this mall," I noted.

"There is a Tilt-A-Whirl!" James said.

"Actually, that does sound fun." Quickly he was dragging me again, this time down the hall to a cheap looking arcade.

"How are we going to pay?" I asked him as he produced a wallet.

"Money," he replied before paying.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, but did not get an answer. The Tilt-A-Whirl was a ride that spun in a circle, and then the cars could also spin separately. I had a vague memory of riding one at a fair with my parents when I was much younger. The ride started and our car swung to the right. James allowed himself to slide into me.

"Ow!" I laughed at him as he was forced away. This repeated for the duration of the ride before we got off laughing. We re-entered the mall and passed a clothing store. Suddenly I realized James was no longer at my side and instead peering into the clothing shop.

"I think that outfit is for girls," I noted the mannequin he was eyeing.

"I think it's pretty," James notes.

"Okay, let's try it on, then," I said.

"I don't think I'm allowed to try on girl clothes, because I'm a boy," he said.

"Who's gonna stop us?" I smiled as we entered the store. I had James pick some things he liked out, and I matched up the sizes against him. We went to the changing stalls and he went in, but quickly returned wearing a pink tank top and capris.

"That's definitely a 10/10!" I cheered jokingly. After a few outfits I noticed him eyeing a certain part of the store.

"You want a skirt?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said quietly. I walked over and picked one, throwing it to him.

"Do it," I smiled. He went into the changing stall and returned in the skirt.

"Well, isn't this a sight?" I turned to see Nira and friends behind us, including Emily.

"You two make a cute couple." James backed into the changing stall.

"You're both weirdos."

"Come on, he's just trying on clothes," I said.

"Guys don't wear girls' clothes," Nira laughed. I turned and James was gone. I didn't even hear him run off. The girl turned away laughing. I locked eyes angrily with a silent Emily. She turned and walked away with her friends.

Meanwhile, in Bethune…

"I just don't understand," Todd said to his concerned partner, Gwen.

"I keep having these flashes of some kind of weird world, and Reggie."

"Reggie is gone," Gwen said, hugging him. He was holding an old art project he'd held onto, a key made of clay. The door suddenly knocked. Todd opened it to find Esther, his old friend.

"What did you need, Todd?" She asked.

"Do you still have that little flute you made when we were kids?" He asked.

"Why do you ask?" she inquires.

"Do you remember that place we made up? Back when we were kids?" He asks.

"Endless Island?" She noted, remembering her recent run in with those two girls. She fumbled through her bag for the flute, and pulled the piece of paper out of it.

"With this key create a door..." Todd read.

"To take us to your righteous shores. To give us fun-"

"Wait!" Suddenly, Conelly was in the hallway.

"Do not finish the spell."

"Spell?" Esther and Todd asked.

"Do you know what happened to Reggie, Conelly?" Todd asked.

"Oh. You want to listen to me now, after all this time?" she asked angrily.

To Be Continued In: Fading Memories Forever


	16. Fading Memories Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

16

Fading Memories Forever

**Bethune:**

"Conelly, why did we have to go to dinner for this?" Todd asked as he and Esther sat down at an outdoor cafe with their strange friend.

"I was hungry," Conelly noted, while browsing the menu.

"Can you tell us about Reggie now?" Todd pressed. Conelly reached into her shirt and produced a necklace, with a key shaped piece of clay, like Todd's.

"This is an Endless key," she started.

"I remember! All three of us had one of these." Todd held out his.

"Why didn't I have one?" Esther asked.

"Yours was that little woodwind," Conelly said as Esther grabbed her handmade toy.

"What do these have to do with Reggie?" Todd asked.

"These are how we got to Endless, and presumably how she never left," Conelly said.

"Are you saying Reggie is on Endless Island?" Esther asked.

"But we made Endless Island up," Todd added.

"That's merely what you remember. When you grew up you forgot about it."

"Then why do you remember?" Todd noted.

"I guess I never grew up. I think I've been stuck on Reggie this whole time." Suddenly all three of the groups Endless keys began to glow, but only for a second.

"What was that?" Todd looked close at the object.

"The kids," Conelly muttered.

**Earlier in Dubuque: **

"I'm sorry Emily's stupid friends did that to you." I put my hand on James' back. It was the first time I'd seen him since he ran off the previous day. We now sat on my bed in relative silence.

"I'm over it. They're right anyway, boys can't wear girls' clothes," he said.

"What if you aren't a boy?" I muse.

"What do you mean?" James was confused.

"Well, maybe you're nonbinary, or a girl?" I continued.

"What's nonbinary?" James was very lost.

"No one has taught you that, huh? Weird, I knew a few trans people already when I was your age. Nonbinary is basically when you aren't a boy or a girl," I concluded.

"You can do that? Be something other than how you were born?" He had a sudden light in his eyes.

"Yeah, of course," I noted. We sat in silence for a minute.

"Would you want to go back to Endless, ever?" he asked.

"Um… maybe? It seems really scary," I said in full honesty.

"What about Reggie?" he asked.

"I think she's a lost cause," I noted.

"I might have a way to go back," he said. He flashed Reggie's Endless key.

"Can you use someone else's key?" I pondered. I caved in and grabbed ahold of the key with James.

"Take us to Endless Island!" We both announced. It almost looked like the key glimmered for a second, but nothing happened.

"Maybe we need Emily," he noted.

"Good luck with that," I muttered. James gave me a sad look.

"Fine. I'll try."

Evening fell silently over Dubuque. I leaned on the side of the 7eleven, looking out over the small street it bordered. Suddenly, a familiar figure joined me. She wore a white tank top and jorts.

"I brought you a Slurpee." She handed me the drink, she had another scar on her wrist, I was still too afraid to mention it.

"Why'd we have to meet at the sketchy 7eleven?" I asked.

"None of my friends would be anywhere near here," Emily replied. "Besides, you're the one who texted me, like, a million times."

"You've been ignoring me and James," I said, with a hint of anger.

"Listen, I just can't handle what happened right now," she said.

"Then when, Emily? When you've lost your friends?" I complained. She stopped.

"Is that why you hang around your trash friends? Because you know they won't abandon you?!" I yelled. She slid down the wall suddenly.

"You're right. I don't want to be alone again. It hurt more than I can express in words," Emily said quietly. "But also I'm scared. I'm scared of causing any more pain. For you, James, Reggie, Conelly. I feel like I made all the wrong decisions, and people kept getting hurt."

"You're hurting James more now than when his arm was broken. He misses you. I miss you too." I slid down the wall to join her.

"I'm an idiot, Kaileigh," Emily muttered.

"So? Who doesn't make mistakes?" I suggested. Emily put her hands to her side and set her drink down.

"Why would you ever forgive me for all of this?" She asked.

"Because I know you are a good person deep down, and also, I like you." I quietly set my right hand on top of her left. Emily sat quietly.

"James wants to go back to Endless."

"I do, too," Emily said.

"I think we can do it together," I smiled.

"We tried," Emily pointed out.

"James still has Reggie's Endless key," I said.

"And you think the three of us can use it? Like some kind of friendship magic?" Emily mused.

"As if that's the weirdest thing that's happened to us," I joked. A moment passed.

"Fine. I'll go. Tomorrow," Emily agreed. I gave her a nod.

"One more thing, Kaileigh," she stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about this," she said.

"Alright," I agreed. She quickly turned and kissed me on the cheek. I found myself staring forward like a deer in headlights.

"That was sudden," I noted. It felt like my face was warm, suddenly.

"Call it an impulse," Emily said. We sat for a few minutes after that.

**Bethune, the next day**

Conelly got up off her parents' couch as someone rang the doorbell, more than once. She reached the door and found Todd and Esther on the other side.

"What?" Conelly asked.

"If everything you said is true, you can take us to Endless," Esther said.

"Yes, that is true, but you aren't kids and won't remember it," Conelly noted.

"What if we got in touch with our inner twelve year olds?" Todd suggested.

"Cringe, but maybe it would work. I'm not sure. Either way, you shouldn't go to Endless."

"Why tell us about it, then?" Esther noted.

"You asked," Conelly said.

"Take us to Endless," Esther pressed.

"Fine, we'll go to Endless. We can play Foursquare, I guess." Conelly retreated to get her key. She swiftly returned and pulled the trio into a hug.

"Um…" Todd and Esther began.

"Just shut up." Conelly held up the key.

**Dubuque**

2:22. A knock on my door awoke me. Finally, James was here. I ran down and opened the door.

"Yo." Emily flashed me a peace sign.

"What!?" I said.

"What do you mean 'what'? We said 'meet here at two'." Emily was confused.

"Yes, but you are always the last one to show up and James isn't here," I noted.

"Just call him," Emily shrugged. I dialed the number on my cell, and was sent straight to voicemail.

"Got his voicemail," I said.

"Let's just go get him, then." Emily gestured to her car.

"Like, go to his house?" I asked.

"No, we're going to Kansas to get him," Emily said sarcastically.

"I mean, like, do we really want to go to his house… with his dad?"

"We are his only friends. Who else is going to check on him?" Emily said, gesturing to her car again. I reluctantly got in.

I'd actually never properly been to James' house. The part of town was a bit scary looking. Ivy grew up the sides of the apartments' faded exteriors, sidewalks were overrun by weeds, and James' parking lot was aged to the point of crumbling.

"Oh, crap," Emily said suddenly, and pointed at an ambulance and police car.

"That's James' building, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes," Emily said as we parked.

"We can't really just walk up now," I noted.

"We can wait." Emily shrugged as suddenly someone knocked on the door and we both jumped. We looked and saw James peeking through the window, he waved us out of the car. We followed him around the cars and a building.

"We thought you were hurt, dude!" Emily said, hugging him.

"Nice to see you too," he said.

"What on Earth is going on? Did your dad find out about the stolen money?" I asked.

"What?" He was confused.

"From the mall," I noted.

"That wasn't stolen, I mow lawns for old people around the corner for money," James said.

"Oh, sorry for assuming." I sunk into my shirt a bit.

"My dad saw a picture of me in a dress on Twitter somehow," James said.

"Nira," I grumbled, "I told you your friends are awful." I elbowed Emily, who stayed silent.

"He threatened to throw me out because 'no son of his was going to be a queer'. Then Candi walked in as he was throwing my things out the window, and got mad at him for trying to throw his kid on the street. They started yelling and he threw this glass thing at her face."

"Holy shit!" Emily said.

"The police came and took dad away, and Candi is in the ambulance. I've been hiding under cars," James finished.

"Child services is going to take you away," I noted.

"I have family in Bethune," James noted.

"Why didn't you go to them sooner?" Emily was dumbfounded.

"We don't leave Dubuque, like ever," James said.

"Can we just do the thing now?"

"Sure," Emily and I agreed. James pulled out Reggie's key, and we each took it.

"Take us to Endless!" We all said, and nothing happened.

"Maybe we need to say that thing Reggie said to use it, since it's hers," James suggested.

"With this key create a door," I started.

"To take us to your righteous shores," Emily continued.

"To give us fun when there is none and make reality undone," James spoke with confidence.

"To the edges of infinity, Endless Island, set us free!" We all spoke in unison. We stared for a second before neon pink petals sprouted around us, enveloping us together.

**Endless:**

A large pink streak entered the skyline as the foursquare ball passed by Todd's hands.

"You're kidding," Conelly said as the streak rounded the toilet bowl on the mountain. Conelly broke into a sprint as the trio hit the landing pad.

"Why do you kids not listen to me?" Conelly yelled.

"We're seeing this through to the end," I announced. Todd and Esther caught up along with a gathering of islanders.

"It seems like they mean well, Conelly," Todd said.

"I'll do my best to tell you everything," Conelly gave in.

To be continued in chapter 18, after a very special chapter 17...


	17. Seventeen Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

17

Seventeen Forever

**Five Years Ago…**

Collin ran screaming past the heroes as fire spread across Endless Island.

"She's destroying everything!" Reggie yelled at Todd, who was trying to put the fire out by spraying water from the beach.

"This is hopeless! We need to defeat her! You, Esther, and Conelly go! I'll stay and try to keep the fire at bay!" Todd turned into a larger elephant to spray more water. Rapid footsteps filled the air and Reggie was scooped up by a sprinting Conelly.

"M'Reggie," She said jokingly, her black hair flowing behind her. Reggie blushed as they tried to focus on spotting Esther. Reggie spotted Esther in the air, just as a blast of fire barely missed her.

"Esther!" Reggie yelled, and signaled her to come down. The girl descended and hopped off of her orb.

"Reggie, we may not be able to stop her this time," Esther said.

"We are not letting the Buttwitch destroy our island!" Reggie yelled as Conelly put them down.

"I'll go myself if I have to." Reggie crossed their arms.

"Fine. I'll fly you close, but you better not get yourself killed," Esther complained.

"I'm going with Reggie," Conelly said. Reggie nodded. Esther hopped back on her orb and the pair grabbed on to her.

Esther flew low over the burning trees of Endless Island. The Buttwitch towered over the flames, at a size the four never thought she could reach. She boasted four arms and three tails now.

"Did you brats think you could sneak up on me in such disgustingly colorful outfits?" The Buttwitch swung one of her tails, clipping Esther's orb. It began spinning like an out of control carousel and quickly ejected Conelly and Reggie, leaving Esther spinning into the fiery forest. Reggie found themself surrounded by the burning ashes of their childhood playground. The heat was unbearable as a large shadow loomed over them. The Buttwitch leaned down towards Reggie.

"Nowhere to run now, little one." She began inhaling and Reggie sat down, accepting their defeat. Suddenly a hand laid on their shoulder.

"Conelly? Why'd you come back?!" Reggie screamed.

"I'm with you to the end." She smiled back.

"Wh… I'm not sure what to say." Reggie was baffled.

"Nothing." Conelly leaned in to kiss her partner for the last time. As their lips touched, a shock-wave spread from them across Endless Island.

"What was that?" Conelly asked as the Buttwitch was blown onto her back.

"The power of friendship. It's stopped her from attacking before," Reggie said.

"That doesn't seem right. You're more than just a friend. I love you." Conelly hugged Reggie, and suddenly a light shone from between them. A blinding orb had appeared within their embrace.

"We might have a chance after all," Reggie smiled.

"Flaps! Hit me!" The small creature arrived and spat a missile launcher to Reggie. She loaded the orb in and fired. It arced across the sky like a shooting star before hitting the Buttwitch like a firework. She shrank rapidly and fell to the ground. The shockwave blew past, extinguishing the fire, leaving only Reggie and Conelly, holding hands in the ashes.

**A few weeks later…**

Todd closed his locker as Reggie continued to pester him.

"Come back to Endless with me, please," Reggie begged.

"Reggie, you and Conelly almost died," he noted.

"I'm with Todd. We shouldn't go there anymore. It's dangerous, and also kind of childish."

"All our best memories are in Endless!" Reggie begged.

"And who will protect it?!"

"We're done, Reggie," Todd said, to Esther's approval. The pair left Reggie, near crying. Conelly soon came over to see them.

"You know they are right, Reg," Conelly said.

"They aren't. Let's protect Endless together, you and I," Reggie pleaded.

"I'm never going to Endless again," Conelly said, before she left for class. Reggie stood for a while, before opening her locker.

"I'll protect it myself if I have to." They took their key to the bathroom and chanted their spell to activate it. Surrounded in pink light, Reggie hit the landing pad.

"I'll protect you, Endless. Even if my friends won't help me. Some friends they are." Reggie began hacking as a worm exited their throat. They grabbed it before it flew away.

"This is your fault," Reggie said to the wriggling creature.

"I can't just let the Buttwitch have this..." Reggie thought for a second before biting into the creature, and devouring it whole.

"Gross." Bits of the worm dripped from their chin, when suddenly they got a pounding headache and fell to the ground. The world of Endless Island warped around them for a while, before they could stand again. Reggie decided to go back, before they threw up.

Reggie stood on the warp pad and held up their key, which didn't work.

"Why can't I leave?" Reggie asked aloud. They kept attempting to leave for a few minutes before admitting defeat.

"Am I stuck on Endless?" They pondered.

"I guess that's what I always wanted." Reggie began running into the black licorice woods and found a clearing. They approached a big rock, and sliced the top of it off with their incredible strength. They set down their Endless key on the rock.

"I don't need it anymore, I guess. I'm the hero Endless needs. The queen." Reggie was full of doubt, but really had no other option left to them.

"I guess I'll be seventeen forever after all." They began crying as they ran from the altar.

**A few days later…**

Todd and Esther headed to the warp pad, once again not finding their lost friend. Reggie watched as they left from on the mountain. They couldn't let their friends see them like this. Every worm increased their strength, and ability to protect Endless. Within the last day, sand began sticking to Reggie's outfit. They'd tried to scrape it off, but it always came back. It was better this way. They laid down in the sun, the light glinting off their chest-plate, which still bared the number seventeen, just barely, through the layer of magnetic sand.

To Be Continued


	18. Convergence Forever

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

18

Convergence Forever

"I'm confused. If we were looking for Reggie in Endless, how'd we suddenly just forget it existed?" Esther asked.

"You stopped after a while and forgot Endless entirely sometime after, like all adults who have been there do," Conelly explained.

"Well, what about you, Conelly? How'd you not figure out what happened to her after five years?" Emily asked.

"I wasn't coming here that entire time. Only when I found out you kids were snooping around. Reggie was my partner, and I was upset at her for running away from me. I just couldn't bear to go to Endless. I only figured out about how adults can't retain their memories of Endless when Todd, Gwen, and Esther suddenly had totally altered memories of their childhoods out of the blue." Conelly grasped her right arm with her left, clearly feeling some guilt over Reggie.

"Why don't we just take her home? We have her key." James held up the object.

"She probably can't. When you stay here too long, you lose yourself. She's probably not even Reggie anymore." Conelly said the last few words very quietly.

"I'm actually not sure that's entirely true. When we first fought the Buttwitch, I got knocked unconscious and thrown into the ocean. I had this weird dream where Reggie talked to me, before I woke up in the Queen's hands. I would've drowned had she not been there," I explained. Conelly and Emily gave me a puzzled look.

"I mean, it sounds like it's worth a try, at least. Reg is our friend," Todd said confidently.

"Alright, where is she?" Emily asked, making a determined fist.

"No clue. She healed back into the Queen after the poison incident," Conelly said.

"Shit." Emily put her fist down.

"If we're doing this, Todd, Esther, do you remember your Endless powers?" Conelly asked. The pair shrugged.

"Todd can shape-shift-"

"Oh, like my hair!" Emily cheered before creating an arm and flexing it.

"Yes, but his whole body," Conelly noted.

"Esther could fly."

"Like me?" I asked.

"Yeah, actually... you two pretty much have the same power," Conelly shrugged.

"What's your power, Conelly?" Todd asked.

"I'm very fast and my sword can shoot lightning, although I generally only use that to scare people."

"Please don't do the lightning again," Emily pleaded.

"What about you?" Todd pointed to James.

"I can make sports equipment," James said, spawning a baseball in his hand.

"Oh..." Todd wasn't impressed.

"Okay, we need to start with places Reggie liked. We came from the foursquare arena, so that's already out. I'm going to go visit Mack and Beefhouse. James, do you know where Galaxander and Mermaid Johnson live?" James nodded and took off. "Emily and Todd, take the scab forest."

"Damn," Emily said.

"The what?" Todd was afraid as Emily grabbed him with her hair and took off.

"Kaileigh and Esther, take to the sky and check the ranch lake. The Buttwitch's house is on the way there."

"Come on!" I focused inward and felt the surfboard spawn. It was hard to admit I couldn't always do that on command still. I gestured to Esther, who hopped on the board with me and grabbed around my waist.

"How's your balance?" I asked.

"Go easy on the tricks," she replied back as we took off along the beach, and cut into the forest around the guitar tree. I leaned back and took us above the tree line.

"It is pretty, in a color vomit sort of way," Esther remarked.

"It sure has some moments. There's a place you can get bubble tea for free," I replied. Suddenly I noticed the Buttwitch near her vacuum. I slowly descended.

"Oh no. What do you want?" The Buttwitch crossed her arms.

"The Queen of Endless," I said sternly.

"No idea. Now go away." She made a shooing motion at us. I decided to continue to the ranch lake.

"Oh my god. It really is a lake of ranch sauce. Gross." Esther peered into the white slime.

"Why does everyone hate ranch here?" I asked as I broke off a piece of a large potato chip embedded in the ground and dipped it in the lake.

"Well, Reggie liked it," Esther noted.

"I think this is a bust, speaking of her," I decided. "Let's go back."

As we descended back to the transporter, Conelly was already slouched against it, and James had returned as well.

"Any luck?" James ran up and asked as Esther and I hopped off the surfboard. I shook my head.

"Nothing for me either. I even checked the obstacle courses." Conelly sounded bitter. Fortunately, we weren't left waiting for long as Emily burst through the treeline, taking several trees out in the process. Her hair was carrying Todd, and the Queen.

"How strong is your hair, kid?" Esther asked, astonished.

"Yes!" Emily said proudly.

"So now what? We just try and warp home?" James pondered.

"Sure, I'll warp home with Emily and Reggie," Conelly said, offering Emily her hand. In the other she held up her key, and she disappeared with Emily in a flash of light, letting the Queen slam into the sand.

"Well, that didn't work," I mumbled as the pair returned to the warp.

"Any other ideas?" Conelly asked.

"What if we use her key?" James suggested.

"Alright, sure." Conelly held up a hand and James threw her the key. Emily re-grabbed the Queen, who'd been lying on the ground with her arms crossed. Conelly held up the key, but nothing happened.

"How'd you kids even get here with this?" Conelly asked.

"It only worked with the three of us together," I explained.

"We may need to do it that way, then." Conelly stepped away from Emily and threw me the key.

"This will bring us to Dubuque, you know," I pointed out.

"We'll figure that part out later if this works," Conelly said. I allowed James and Emily to grasp the key, and we were swept up in a pink aura, but didn't find ourselves outside James' apartment.

"Reggie isn't here," Emily said.

"More importantly, where are we?" James asked. We'd come out of Endless in some sort of public restroom. I walked to the exit and opened it, outside were rows of lockers.

"It's a school," I noted, but was unfamiliar with the location. Emily joined me.

"Maybe this is the place where Reggie entered Endless the final time, Conelly said

she disappeared during the school day," Emily hypothesized.

"Ewww, that means this is a girls' room!" James moaned.

"Stop being a baby," Emily replied, as James joined us.

"Let's go back," I said, holding the key again.

We hit the landing pad and the others were all staring.

"So, the key didn't take us to Dubuque," I told Conelly.

"Where did it take you?" She asked.

"Some sort of school restroom," Emily shrugged.

"That must be where Reggie entered Endless," Conelly said.

"We assumed the same thing," I added.

"Does that mean we're going to have to take an Uber back to Dubuque!?" Emily realized.

"We can figure that out later," Conelly said. A small crowd of Islanders had begun gathering.

"Maybe it needs to be all seven of us?" James suggested.

"It's the only idea left," Conelly shrugged. I held the key out. As Emily grabbed the Queen once more and put her hand in. Todd, Esther, James, and Conelly followed.

"Wait, let me try something," Emily said. She began grimacing as her hair grew and enclosed all of us in a candy pink dome. We beckoned to the key and neon pink light began to filter in through Emily's hair, but we remained on Endless as the key grew brighter.

"Focus as hard as you can on Bethune!" Conelly said. I closed my eyes and focused as hard as I could, when suddenly, we accelerated to nauseating speeds. Two rapid intense crashes filled my ears before I rolled away from the others on the ground. I rolled on my side in pain and looked to the sky, or rather, the top of the school gymnasium. I got up to a sitting position and looked back over the debris field we'd left. There was a hole in the side of the gym, and another across the hall, into the bathroom. Did we really leave Endless with enough speed to break through two walls?

"Holy crap." Emily was already standing and admiring the damage. I looked in front of me and noticed something. The Queen's head was on the ground. I picked it up.

"That can't have actually worked." I said to Emily, as I walked over and showed her. I began realizing a lot of the bricks on the ground were pieces of the Queen.

"Guys you won't believe it!" James' voice came from near the bleachers. Emily and I climbed over and saw the others, all looking at Reggie, now in her street clothes. We sat for a moment before a rather large voice came from behind us.

"ARE YOU OKAY!?" Doctor Champion's voice echoed in the gym.

"Yeah we're fine-" Conelly started.

"Wait how are you here!?" I interrupted.

"I FOLLOWED YOU!" He replied.

"But, Endless stuff can't leave Endless!" Emily bellowed. Doctor Champion shrugged before taking off into the school. I ran to the restroom with Emily and James in tow. In the center of the destroyed restroom was a large, bright pink crack in the floor. I leaned down near it and put my hand on it, which went through.

"You don't think it goes to Endless?" I said quietly.

"Only one way to find out." Emily ran and jumped in, somehow disappearing entirely. As quickly as she left she returned, except now in her Endless outfit.

"There's another one of these on the beach." She said.

"Your outfit!" James said. Emily looked at herself in the remnants of one of the mirrors before forming her hair into an arm.

"Oh, we fucked up bad," Emily muttered. I was on the verge of panicking.

"Holy fucking shit!" Todd walked into the room as Emily messed with her hair. He approached her and the rift in the floor. Esther and Conelly soon followed, all six of us were left speechless.

"What did you all do?" Reggie said, walking into the room to six horrified stares.

To Be Continued


	19. Final Gambit Forever Part One

Seventeen Forever

A Twelve Forever Fan-story

By Daring D.D. Danger

19

Final Gambit Forever Part One

"Seriously, what's going on here?" Reggie looked at the six of us. Todd and Esther were clearly freaking out. James and I looked at each other. It felt like the end of the world.

"I think bringing you out of Endless messed up the boundary between our world and Endless," Conelly said.

"Also… how long was I in Endless? I can only remember a few weeks, but you all look so different." Reggie looked a bit worried.

"Five years," Conelly said in a grim voice.

"Oh..." Reggie slid down the wall next to Conelly.

"Why's any of it matter!?" Emily punched the mirror with her hair, sending it into tiny fragments.

"We destroyed the world." She sank down and began sobbing. A small scream echoed from outside the school. The bathroom was nothing but sobbing and sad stares. Reggie and Conelly were resting against each other, and James had joined me.

"It's not over," I said, standing up. "We only know one rule about Endless. Things that go there can't leave. If we put all the Islanders back, maybe it will close the barrier." My confidence was not answered by anything other than stares.

"Bethune is my home," Reggie stood up and said, also reaching a hand for Conelly, who stood up with her. The others soon followed. Emily took her place next to James and I.

"You three, what are your Endless powers?" Reggie asked.

"I can fly, she can control her hair like a limb, and he can make sports equipment," I replied, pointing at my friends respectively.

"Todd and Esther can't use their powers anymore, though, Reggie," Conelly noted.

"What about you?" Reggie asked their partner.

"Yes, I can."

"The Islanders can't have gotten very far. It's only been like 15 minutes. Kid, I need you to take to the air and act as the spotter." They pointed to me.

"Kaileigh, by the way," I informed them.

"Pink hair, do you have any way to get airborne?"

"Emily. And yes, but I can't outright fly." Emily shrugged.

"You'll work with Kaileigh then." Emily walked over and gave me a high five.

"Boy, can you make _any_ sports equipment?"

"James, and I think so. Although I doubt dodgeballs are gonna help," James noted.

"Have you tried fantasy sports equipment?" Reggie asked.

"No," James said.

"Someone give me their phone," Reggie said. Conelly handed hers over. Reggie typed something and then handed the phone to James.

"Make those." Reggie pointed. James nodded before giving the phone back and diving through the rift. He returned in his outfit, adorned with light blue roller skates, and holding a baseball.

"Roller skates and a baseball?" I questioned.

"They aren't just roller skates," Reggie said. She walked up and pushed a button on them, causing what sounded like a motor to come to life. "They're iGoFast E-Screamers, the fastest motorized roller skates ever made," Reggie cheered. I jumped into the rift next, re-emerging in my outfit, my surfboard attached to my leg.

"Todd and Esther, your job is to protect civilians," Reggie said, as the pair took off from the bathroom. Reggie and Conelly took each other's hands and walked into the rift, Conelly came out first in full samurai gear. Reggie followed, in their usual outfit. They stood proudly as the numbers on their chest-plate began spinning like a clock, finally stopping on seventeen.

"So you really haven't aged in five years..." Conelly was obviously alarmed.

"Alright, let's go!" Reggie announced.

"Just like old times?" Conelly asked. Reggie nodded before hopping onto Conelly's shoulders. Conelly took off like a shot.

"Strength and speed. They go well together," Emily noted.

"Hey, should we wear masks so people don't recognize us?" James asked.

"On it." Emily donned a mask made out of her hair, and ripped two more out for James and I. I placed the mask on my face, which stuck like cotton candy.

"Oh, so that's how your mask used to stay on," James said, licking candy off of his fingers.

"Are you sure you can ride those skates, dude?" Emily asked.

"No, not really," he replied. He attempted leaning forward and the skates took off in a flash, James screamed his lungs out until I couldn't hear him anymore.

"Well, he didn't fall." Emily shrugged. Emily hopped onto the board. Suddenly, Tasty Troy came around the corner.

"Y'all want some meatballs?" he asked. I looked at Emily before she grabbed him and chucked him into the rift.

"How are we supposed to prevent them from coming back out?" I asked.

"Good point." Emily started growing her hair out, and before I knew it, there was a net covering the hole.

"Well, I don't have a better idea." I gestured at the board again. Emily steadied herself with her hair once more, and we took off, heading right from the bathroom and to the closest exit. It wasn't long before Emily grabbed me, and pointed to the school football field. Pretty Please, Tater Tot, and Beth were on the field in cheerleader clothes.

"Low sweep?" I asked Emily, to which she nodded. Emily grew her hair into a net, and I flew low over the trio, Emily scooping them up in the process.

"That wasn't very nice," Beth said. We flew back to the bathroom, where Emily stretched an opening in the big net, so I could toss the trio in. We took off again as my phone rang. I answered.

"You are not going to believe where I found Borbo," James' voice said.

"I actually don't want to know," I replied.

"It's not my fault I like sneakin' and creepin'," Borbo's voice said. I hung up the phone as we took to the air again.

"Kaileigh, over there." Emily pointed to the mall, which was surrounded by police.

"That's closer to Conelly and Reggie. Call them!" I said loudly. Emily seemed to text them instead.

"They've got it!" She smiled.

"Looks like we've got something, too." I pointed to the Aldi store, which was also surrounded by cops. I flew us down and onto the roof. Emily tore open a skylight and we immediately heard Doctor Champion's maniacal laughter. We hopped in and I landed in something wet. I looked down and was standing in milk.

"Doctor Champion!" I yelled. I went around a corner and saw him playing in spilled milk. "It's time to go home now," I said.

"WHERE'S HOME?" He yelled.

"Endless Island," I replied.

"I'M FROM KENTUCKY!" He replied. I took his hand and got up. Emily lifted him with her hair and onto the roof, all the while still laughing. We flew back to the school once more and Emily threw him in.

"How are we even going to know we caught them all?" Emily asked as Conelly ran into the room with Darla on her back.

"Swinging knives at the food court?" I asked sarcastically, to which Conelly nodded.

"You asked a fair question, how DO we know how many there are here?" Conelly pondered.

"OH, I KNOW THIS ONE!" Doctor Champion pulled his head through the rift.

"Swimple Dan, Gorbus, Collin, Tasty Troy, Pretty Please, Tater Tot, Beth..." The three of us looked at each other as Doctor Champion spoke, dumbfounded.

"Garrett, Flaps, Stanley, Mermaid Johnson, Mack, Beefhouse..." He continued for a few more names before returning to Endless screaming.

"Well, that was useful," Conelly said, jaw dropped.

"That's also more than I thought," Emily noted.

"At least it's not the Buttwitch," I assured her.

"Well, Collin shouldn't be hard to find," Emily said.

"I'll go pick up Reggie and look at some barns." Conelly sprinted off.

"Wanna go look for Guy Pleasant?" I asked.

"You don't think..." Emily trailed off as we got on the board and flew to the community college. As we approached The Outpost we could hear a bass beat. We hopped off and walked in through the broken front door. The stage was ablaze with lights as Guy Pleasant, Garret, and Schmaaron played a catchy pop tune.

"Time to stop now!" Emily yelled, but the music only grew louder.

"I've got it!" I jumped on stage and ran up to Schmaaron, grabbing his guitar and smashing it on the ground. The music stopped as he began crying.

"Come on! Not again!" Guy Pleasant shot me a dirty look as he tried to calm Schmaaron down.

"Let's go home, buddy," he said as the two walked out of the building.

"That was easy," Emily said, as the lights turned off.

"I know, right?" Garret said.

"Go home," I replied to him, he shrugged and headed off.

"Wait, who was running the sound and lights?" Emily asked. A tall woman waved her hand from the back, where the sound-booth was.

"Didn't that bother you?" I asked.

"Nah, I've seen crazy stuff here plenty of times. Even had my first date here." The woman pushed up her glasses and pulled her curly hair out of her eyes.

"Okay..." I said quietly as I walked off with Emily.

We took back to the sky and watched the musical trio walk back to the school together, before going back on patrol.

"Got a text from Conelly. They found Collin," Emily said to me. "Oh, and James found Swimple Dan and Gorbus dancing in the middle of the freeway."

"Still, we've got over ten to go," I noted. "And I think a storm is rolling in!" I pointed to some clouds off in the distance.

"We should land. I don't want to get struck by lightning," Emily said. I agreed and took us to the ground near the mall, where we entered.

"Let's get something to eat and wait the storm out," I said. People were mostly absent from the mall, probably due to everything that's going on, and most of the food court was closed. We eventually settled on Subway. We walked up to the counter and were greeted by Rance, in a Subway uniform.

"Welcome to Subway, what can I get started for you?" He said.

"Rance!? How'd you get a job?" I was perplexed. He simply shrugged.

"Can I get a footlong oven roasted chicken on Italian?" Emily asked.

"Emily!" I protested.

"We can take him back after." Emily also shrugged. I crossed my arms until I heard Rance moving.

"What kind of cheese?" He asked.

"Fine," I said to Emily, who was staring through the sneeze guard at the cheeses like a toddler.

"Get me a turkey melt with avocado," I said, retreating to a table. A few minutes later the two returned with food.

"Of course you'd like avocado. Stereotypical Californian," Emily snickered. It began raining as a few people stared at us, but kept walking. Eventually, Conelly, Todd, Esther, and James joined us to wait out the storm, which had become a deluge.

"Look who I found in the arcade!" Reggie rounded a corner with Chewing Gum Stanley, whom she high fived, and got stuck.

"At least the arcade was already sticky," James noted.

To Be Continued.


End file.
